The Pairing Project
by Dark Gothic Lolita
Summary: Mira and Master Makarov are bored of seeing people hang out with the same people each time. So they made them switch it up. For the next month, they're going to be partners with someone they never work with. Cue Natsu and Juvia. They're both stuck together and it doesn't help that it's Natsu's 18th birthday soon...Rated T but may change to an M ;p
1. Chapter 1

Hey Dark Gothic Lolita here!

How is everyone this fine day huh? I hope we're all doing well! Well even if you're not, I hope my little Navia can cheer you up! Oh yes, that's right ANOTHER Navia pairing! I've been so crazy on this pairing lately that it's no longer funny, seriously lol.

I was thinking, this might be the last one I post for a while in the Fairy Tail category. (Yeah, but we know that's not going to happen) I have a lot of fanfics from other mangas that I really, REALLY need to catch up on! I've written so many on Fairy Tail that I've neglected my other stuff!

This is also quite short compared to what I usually write. I've only done like 2,988 words which is real weird. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with what I've doooone!

I don't own Fairy Tail or any of their characters. I apologize for any spelling mistakes and grammar mistakes!

ENJOY!

* * *

**The pairing project**

**Chapter one**

Mira's eyes watched over the horizon of people in the guild. It was the same old same old and quite frankly, the white haired beauty was getting tired of it. She wanted a change, she needed some razzle dazzle in life! Ever since she ditched the days of being called Demon Mira, she had just been a sweet and angelic human. She needed to stir something up! Add a little spice and salt to everyone's lives! And what better way to mess around with your guildmates?

She was so sick and tired of seeing Gray reject Juvia's advances that she no longer shipped them anymore. Gray would never ever deserve the amount of love that Juvia gives him if he ever did give her the time of day in the end. He was just too cruel to get her rooting on this one. Then Lucy who acted as though she didn't have a thing for Gray just need a push in the right direction to see that she does in fact have feelings for him. Actually, Lucy was caught between two guys. She loved Natsu and Gray, but she didn't know that yet. Well that's what Mira had come up with. Having a love triangle was more appealing to Mira.

Levy and Gajeel seemed to be more successful than any of them, all they needed to do was _confess_! For crying out loud, is it really that hard?! Sometimes she felt like going over to these respective couples and just smacking their lips together for them! She knew her little sister was head over heels for Natsu, but it just won't happen. Not anymore. She felt sorry for her baby sister, knowing that this would break her heart, yet there was something different about her sister...Something that she wasn't in on and no one knew. It was like it was an act...

Then her own brother! Oh gosh, her own brother! Had he learnt nothing from her matchmaking skills?! Yes he's a 'man' and he shouldn't really be into those kind of things, but surely he should have written down some tips and maybe sorted out his own love life with Evergreen?! Must she do everything around here? It would seem like it...

She clapped her hands when the master agreed with her idea. In fact the man smirked and strolled into the guildhall. "EVERYONE! LISTEN UP!" That gained the attention of everyone even Team Natsu was silent for once. They all stared up at him with expectant eyes. "I'm just going to say this straight. Mira and I are bored. Besides, all of you only ever seem to stick with one group or team. I think it's time to broaden your perspective on people. You will be given a partner. You will be working with this partner for the next month or so. You will go on jobs, you will make sure that the other person is okay and you will also hang out whenever you can. No swapping and no getting jealous if you don't get the person you want."

He said this purposely for Juvia's sake, just in case she didn't get Gray as her partner. Everyone started commenting and Juvia indeed did latch onto Gray's arm even though he was pushing her off of it. "OKAY! I'm going to start drawing names from the hat now!" One by one, people were being called out. Mira was clapping her hands whenever the right people were called together. Gajeel with Levy, Wendy with Romeo. Things were going well. Erza was just lucky that she was on a quest. Well she was going to get a partner either way when she got back.

Juvia squeezed even tighter onto Gray's arm as though she didn't want to let go at all. She was so worried that someone else might be paired with him. Maybe Mira had rigged it for the both of them to be put together. The hearts in her eyes started swirling around and she went off into her little fantasy world, not realizing that Gray had managed to pull his arm away.

"Juvia and Natsu!" The hearts smashed, her mouth wide open in horror instead of fantasy dreaming. The next names that were called out must have been some sort of mistake. "Gray and Lucy!" Gray had moved away from Juvia and she couldn't help but watch the pair through saddened eyes. She knew she would lose eventually, but she didn't think she would lose this quickly.

"Hey Juvia!" Natsu jumped right up into Juvia's face that she moved back in fright, not expecting him.

"Ah, hey Natsu-san." She wasn't in the mood for this, not now, not ever. He was the most hyperactive person she had ever met and most importantly, he wasn't her Gray-sama. He grinned at her and she gave him a half hearted smile.

"Well I guess we're partners for the next month!" Again, Juvia attempted to smile but nothing happened.

Natsu then grabbed her hand as they started making their way out of the guild. "Where is Natsu-san taking Juvia?!" He finally let go of her hand at the question and he smiled at her.

"It's my job to make sure that you're alright for the next month, right? I know I'm not Gray and I won't try to be, but out of everyone in the guild, you're the only one I haven't gotten close with. Do you think that maybe we could just...be friends at the very least?" Juvia was surprised that Natsu was actually acting mature about something and she nodded her head, sighing in defeat before giving him a real smile.

"Natsu-san is right, Juvia should just get over herself! Juvia is sorry that she was being an idiot. Juvia would love to be friends with Natsu-san! So erm, what does Natsu usually do now?" He slowly grinned as he grabbed Juvia's hand and ran off to wherever the hell they were going. "Natsu-san should really plan on slowing down!"

He just laughed to her and when he stopped, she almost flew over his legs, only to have him catch her quickly. "It doesn't matter, we're here anyway." Although she didn't like him or would ever like him in that way, she was blushing at the way he was holding her around her waist to secure her. She wasn't the type of girl to ever be acknowledged by any guy and she had never been held this way before. She just wondered how Lucy could deal with such physical contact. Lucy. That name made her pull away from Natsu suddenly.

"Anyway, where are we?" Natsu just grinned at her and at the same time, his stomach rumbled. Juvia sweat dropped before looking at the building in front of her, feeling stupid that she didn't think that this would be the first place that Natsu would take her to.

"Where do you think?! We're having lunch! Oh and I haven't got any money on me at this moment!" He ran in and Juvia paled. This wasn't at all what she wanted. How could he do this to her?! Did he not think about her feelings! She doesn't want to have lunch with him! Does he even know what this would MEAN?!

It was going to put the BIGGEST dent in her wallet!

~x~

"Man, I am stuffed~"

"Well why wouldn't Natsu be, he almost made the restaurant give him their week's supply of food."

She had said it louder than intended because she knew how sensitive dragon's slayers ears were, but Natsu heard it loud and clear and looked over at her with a sheepish grin. He scratched his belly as he did so. "Hehe, sorry about that. We paid them at least, right?"

"Yeah, from Juvia's wallet!" Juvia snapped at him as rage filled in her eyes. "Now Juvia has to go on a big job to pay her stupid rent!"

Natsu just waved her off as he walked ahead of her which made Juvia furious. She had decided to drop the -san from his name because he was no longer worthy of the minimal respect that she had for him. He annoyed the hell out of the Juvia and she couldn't believe that their name's had been pulled out of the hat together. So okay, she didn't get Gray, but ANY other guy in the guild would have been way better for her! Hell, she wouldn't have minded if Mira had been sneaky and put Lyon's name in there, just so she could have been paired with her too!

But no, she was stuck with this hungry, fight loving oaf!

"Don't sweat it Juvia! I always go on a job with Lucy whenever she needs rent! It won't be much different at all!"

Juvia shook her head as she growled a little bit. That caught Natsu's attention as he finally realised that she was not at all amused. He had never really seen Juvia blow up, but he knew it was something scary because apparently, even Erza was scared of her when she blew. This made him flinch a little bit.

"Natsu is missing the point! Love rival lives in an apartment that is considerably cheap compared to people who live in Fairy Hills! Juvia now has to scrape up 100,000 jewels just for one month worth of rent! Juvia won't even have enough left over for food or anything!"

She sighed in mild frustration. She didn't know how Lucy was able to do it. At least she knew how she felt the first time she ever offered to pay both Natsu AND happy's meals! It must have been the worst time for her because she wasn't in a guild yet.

"O-oh, I didn't know!"

Juvia sighed once more, waving her own hand this time around to dismiss the topic. She couldn't care less now, what's done is done. "Of course Natsu didn't know. Doesn't matter anyway, Juvia will find a way."

This project was turning out to be one of the worst plans Mira had ever come up with in her life. It wasn't looking so hot for the two of them right now and Juvia just kept on walking with a silent Natsu behind her. She was glad that he was at least being silent, so that he didn't annoy her in any way.

"I'll help you, don't worry. After all, the old man did say that we have to look after one another and go on missions together right? I'll make sure I won't destroy anything as well, so that we can get all the money for you!"

Juvia stopped and stared at him, her jaw unhinged. "O-okay then, but what about Natsu? How much are we splitting the money?"

"Well I don't need a lot, so depending on the job, you can have majority of it!"

Juvia sighed in relief and gave him a quick smile before it felt like a heavy load had been lifted from her shoulders. She didn't want to have to be kicked out of the Fairy Hills just because she paid for Natsu's stupid lunch. She smiled gently before clearing her throat.

"Oh and Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"Juvia is never buying you lunch again. _Never._"

* * *

Juvia was sitting next to Natsu as he was chatting animatedly to his team as they were talking about something that most likely didn't concern her with them at all. She drowned out all their speech as she just stared at Gray, but not openly. She had finally realised that Gray wasn't the sort who liked over the top girls, but maybe if she showed him an enough and sane amount of affection, he may open up to her. Well that's what she was hoping for anyway. She didn't want her efforts to go to waste.

"So we were wondering if you would like to go on a job with us? It should be Gray and I, then you and Juvia! I mean, I've never worked with Juvia before, but it should be fun!"

Lucy had no idea why she just said that when it was clear to everyone on Earthland that Juvia was somehow going to come up with multiple ways to kill her on their job because she's the one who was partnered with Gray at not her. She shivered involuntarily as she looked up at Juvia who seemed to have spaced out. She frowned deeply, wondering what was wrong with her friend.

"Juvia? You okay?"

That gained the attention of everyone on their table and Juvia finally came back to her normal self. She blinked owlishly. "Did love rival say something?"

Lucy managed to ignore her nickname, but it made Gray roll his eyes at her discreetly. "I said, are you okay?"

"Yeah, Juvia is just thinking..."

Natsu saw this as the perfect time to jump in. "We would love to go on a mission and stuff with you guys, but seeing as Juvia did buy me lunch, we have to go on a mission for _her _rent."

Now Lucy could see why Juvia was so out of it. She must have been so put out by the bill that her spirit just kept on leaving her in shock. But seriously, dragon slayer or not, how does one need to each that much? After all, Gajeel was only seen eating iron. Why couldn't Natsu be satisfied with fire? Fire was easy to get ahold of after all, just wave a damn lighter into his mouth.

"I know how you feel Juvia. Natsu and Happy almost cleaned me out and I had only around 20,000 jewels."

Juvia sighed. "Natsu ate way more than that. Juvia doesn't know how, but one thing that's for sure is that Juvia doesn't care, as long as she gets a good paying job that is able to pay for the next rent that is due in a few days." She couldn't help but throw another glare in Natsu's direction and Natsu got the feeling that even though she had forgiven him, the bitterness of it all was still there.

"Anyway, Juvia is going to find a good job. Natsu-san should stay here and talk to his team."

She got up and left them and Lucy watched her walking away with sad eyes before she glared harshly at Natsu. The fire dragon slayer gulped. "What?!"

"You really know how to make a crappy first impression don't you? You did that to me the first time and now the first time you hang out with Juvia, you still go and do it!"

"WHAT?! I make an AWESOME first impression!"

Gray laughed and Natsu growled at him in anger. Why was he mocking him? "You wanna go, you exhibitionist?!"

That made Gray stop his laughing before he but heads with Natsu. Lucy just sighed as she moved away from the both of them. Erza was still away with her unfortunate partner so there wasn't really anyone to stop the fight. Turns out that Jet was her partner and Erza was more than delighted to take him on a job with her as soon as she came back from her quest. Jet was gutted that didn't get Levy.

"What did you say, you flame freak?!"

They both launched their attacks at each other which started hitting other people. Elfman growled. "Fighting is man, but attacking others when they're not ready isn't manly at all!"

The three of them were now fighting. Gajeel wanted to finish his iron quickly, but Gray had accidentally frozen it before he was able to put it in his mouth. Gajeel growled in anger before he jumped up, making the four of them.

Lucy was trying to find her way around them before she found Wendy, Levy and the three exceeds hiding in the corner. "I hate it when a fight between those two turn into a guild brawl! At least take it outside!" Lucy was wailing.

Levy nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah and now Erza is still on a mission with Max! No one is going to be able to stop this fight, especially if Mira has been knocked out once again!"

That reminded Lucy of the first time she came here.

Happy then saw something and he shouted. "Look!"

That's what they all did and they saw that Juvia was walking over to Natsu with a job description in her hand. She was not looking happy at all. She grabbed her partner and yanked him hard towards her. She had already extinguished the flames and it made Natsu stop and whine.

Juvia then mumbled something under her breath and the girls who were hiding with the excess watched in wonder as everyone was captured in one big water lock. They were all suffocating and Juvia glared at them all.

"There will be NO fighting, especially started by Natsu because we have a job. Is that understood?"

Everyone was nodding their head very quickly and they were all looking at Gray to help freeze the water, but he couldn't. It was like Juvia had gotten even stronger that his ice make had no effect on it.

"Good." Juvia released them all and they fell to the ground, soaking wet and gasping, trying to get their breaths back. Their lungs were on fire, which was very ironic.

Turns out, Mira hadn't been knocked out, but she did watch what was going on, feeling very amused. She watched as Juvia walked up to her, dragging Natsu with her.

"We're going on this mission Mira-san."

The model nodded her head, checking out the mission for them with a grin. "You guys have fun! And Natsu, please don't destroy anything."

Juvia had finally let go and she was walking off. Natsu and Mira watched her, anger in her step and everyone flinched when she walked through them. Natsu shivered.

"I won't."

* * *

Shout out time! So **ACETOWN**, I finally brought out the story that I said I was working on! How is it? Not just to Acetown, but to everyone else as well! I think I'm going to have fun writing this pairing because it's based on humour as well as romance and what's better than a romantic comedy?! NOTHING mwahahahaha.

Okay, so maybe there is something and I just don't know...

But yeah you guys, this is the first chapter and I want you guys to boil in anger as I slowly take my time to update for the next chapter lol! Hahaha, no I won't be that evil. In fact, I've finished chapter two already so it's just up to when I actually get round to posting that up! But I will make you guys suffer for that chapter! hehehehe

Don't forget to rate or hate, flames or floods! Send some love in your reviews and I send my Lolita love in return! tehee.

Lolita-chan


	2. Chapter 2

Hey Dark Gothic Lolita here!

So how is everyone doing since the first chapter huh? I hope you're all okay, or at least good enough to read this next chapter mwahahaha! I have written more words than the last chapter so that means that now you have a longer chapter to read! 4,200 words this time around! Enjoy it! Live it! OWN IT! Okay maybe not own it because it's MINE! Well the full disclaimers are coming soon lol. I've had quite a lot of positive feedback from this, so thank you you guys!

Okay, so it's time to say hi to some of my guest followers!

**Himichy: **I'm glad you find it so beautiful! Thanks for your review!

**Dark: **Your review actually made me laugh! Don't worry, I WON'T do drugs and I'll stay in school! I'm glad that this pairing has now grown on you, spread the navia cult mwahahahaha. No, I'm just joking lol, it's not a cult. At least I have the reassurance that SOMEONE will stay by my side even when I update slowly lol. Thanks so much for your review!

**MissKaitouKid: **You have me a pretty detailed review which I absolutely don't mind! Don't hide the fact that you're a Navia fan, bring it out into the open! Embrace it! Trust me, I remember when I used to be such a hardcore Gruvia fan! (I wrote like two Gruvia fanfics before Navia stole my heart) I LOVE this kind of Juvia, I mean, I'm sooo waiting for her fight in the upcoming chapters! It's time for her to be strong again! Not that fangirl we've been seeing this whole time like ergh. I'll see if I can fit in some jealous Gray. I'm not sure about it yet, but if it goes, it'll be in there! I don't mind about your spelling or grammar, mine is usually wrong anyway! ^^

I don't own Fairy Tail or their characters, but the storyline is totally and utterly and completely MINE! Kay? Kay!

ENJOY!

* * *

**The pairing project**

**Chapter two**

Juvia was sitting on a bench with her legs crossed over as she read over their job description yet again. Natsu was off in the bushes somewhere, puking his guts out. Juvia had suggested to Happy that he should come because she didn't want to be the only one dealing with his stupidity, but Happy gladly declined because he was too busy with Carla. Juvia smiled at that thought. Even Happy was in love!

Then she frowned when she thought of the poor cat's situation. It was like her and Gray all over again, only Carla was Gray in this situation and Happy was Juvia. "Juvia will try and help Happy with his love life," she mumbled to herself.

"Ugh, did ya say somethin' Juvia?"

Juvia didn't even look up at him, but instead, she handed him a bottle of water to wash out his mouth. She also threw him a packet of mints, which he caught expertly. "Juvia said something that doesn't concern Natsu. Besides, Juvia wants Natsu to eat those mints so that Natsu's bad breath doesn't hurt Juvia's nose."

She knew she was being harsh, but she was still very angry with him, even though the anger itself was waning. For everyone else in the guild, Natsu is a blessing to them. He's helped out at least one person in a special way and they hold their regards to him, despite him being a total idiot and all. What has he done for Juvia? Nothing! They've never actually spoken. Before the project, Juvia couldn't even remember one word she had uttered to Natsu. She sighed. _"Maybe that's Juvia's fault."_

Natsu sighed at her before shoving a handful of the mints in his mouth. "I'm guessing that you're still mad at me." He had chewed and swished around the mints in his mouth before swallowing them very dangerously with the bottle of water.

"Natsu guessed correctly. Now let's get going."

Natsu grinned before walking with her. "Our job is to get back some girls who have been taken by some Vulcans and up into the icy mountains."

"Juvia has never heard of Vulcans What are they? Are they strong and why are they taking _women _for?"

"They're these perverted yeti looking thingies and they are strong against people who attack them, but at the same time, they're pretty stupid. Anyway, we have to go and meet our client. Some mayor in the town or something."

Juvia held her tongue when she wanted to say that Natsu was stupid too, but she knew that he wasn't perverted. Well she hoped that he wasn't anyway.

Natsu followed behind Juvia with his hands behind his head. Juvia wasn't anything special and he doubted they would be a good team. They didn't get along, their personalities clashed, and she was too grouchy for him. There were times when Lucy was like that too. It happened every certain of the month and you couldn't talk to her at all. Then she also had this really weird scent about her and it put him off dangerously. He had remembered Lucy talking about it with Erza.

"_But I can't smell anything from Juvia..."_

"Hey Juvia? Are you on your period?"

~x~

Juvia was sitting at one end of the couch, fuming as boiling water was ready to erupt from her body. She sat with her arms crossed, her teeth gritted and her posture as straight as ever. She had silently vowed that there was no force on this Earthland that was going to make her talk to Natsu. And if she got sucked through the anima, that would have been better for her.

The client and his wife were staring at the two mages and wondering what was going on. Natsu was just staring at Juvia with a pouty look as though to try and get Juvia's attention to tell her he was sorry. It was worse with her because she didn't hit him to let out all her frustration, nor did she yell at him for something stupid that he did. No, she gave him the _silent treatment. _Natsu hated receiving the silent treatment more than anything.

The mayor coughed. "Erm well, you two are both from Fairy Tail right?"

They both nodded and the man and his wife sighed. "I'll go and make us something to drink." The mayor watched his wife's retreating body and wanted to cry. He could feel the tension in the room and the murderous intent that was leaking dangerously from Juvia. He was suffocating and he didn't want to get in between what may be a lover's quarrel. _"Don't leave me!" _Too late, his wife was gone.

He turned to the two silent mages before clearing his throat to speak. Thankfully that gained their attention and he sighed mentally.

"Well anyway, there seems to be an influx of Vulcans and they are bothering and capturing many of our girls. We were need you both to stop them."

Natsu stood up and fist pumped the air. "Don't worry, we'll stop those perverted creatures and get all the women back! Besides, I have perfect bait."

His eyes flashed deviously as Juvia raised an eyebrow, feeling confused. Natsu actually had a plan?! He made one this quickly?! Wow, maybe he wasn't bad at all!

That was until Natsu was looking at her with the same evil gleam running through his onyx coloured eyes. Juvia paled even more than she already was as she realised one thing. The mayor's wife then came back in with some tea and cookies. Natsu didn't touch the bitter beverage, but instead opted for the cookies.

Juvia sat there in mild shock before a noise that resembled a strangled cat burst forth from within her throat.

"Surely Natsu doesn't mean that he is using Juvia as the bait?! That's absurd! Natsu is so...so perverted! Also, Juvia isn't that pretty that she can be used as bait in the first place."

Her sudden burst of anger was diminished with her self loathe. She wasn't good enough at anything. "Juvia thinks that this job would have been perfect for Gray and Lucy. After All, Lucy is the prettier one."

She closed her eyes in slight irritation before turning her head to the side. Her looking like she didn't care about what she was saying was just a facade to hide how weak she was really feeling. The other three people in the room were staring at her. Natsu frowned deeply.

"Oh um, well are you guys still taking this job, right?"

"Hell yeah!" Natsu flashed the mayor and his wife a grin and they both smiled, happy that they were still going through with it. "Well we're going to find an inn now and then we'll head out."

Before anyone could say anything, Natsu grabbed for Juvia's hand and pulled her up while holding his stuff. Juvia hadn't been expecting it and her eyes flew open in a hurry. "Natsu?!"

As soon as they got out of the house, Natsu sent her a withering glare. Instead of her backing down, she sent him one of her own, obviously angry.

"What was that?! Was Natsu trying to see how fast he could run in order to see if he could pull off Juvia's arm?! Warn Juvia next time!"

"Yeah whatever. How could you say that back in there?"

Juvia looked confused as she tried to think of what she had said. Natsu realised this before speaking again. "About you not being pretty."

"Oh that."

"Hey don't blow it off like that, you looked like you were going to cry and now you act like you don't even care! Geeze, girls are so weird!"

Juvia just rolled her eyes as she picked up her duffel bag.

"Well it's true, no point in lying! Anyway, let's get going, Juvia wants to get a decent room in the inn."

She started walking off and Natsu watched her back before shaking his head and following her.

"Well I think you're kinda pretty," he murmured under his breath.

Juvia confused him. She was starting to contradict his thoughts that her had of her earlier. She was different. It wasn't in the same way that Lucy had reminded him of Lisanna when his best friend had supposedly been dead, making both girls almost similar, and it wasn't like Erza and Mira were if they wanted to, they could scare him shitless.

No, Juvia seemed to be in a realm of her own. He hadn't really met a girl like her so it wasn't in his schema to figure out how he was supposed to deal with her. She didn't cry, she didn't send him warning glares constantly, she didn't act in a way that he would deem crazy. He thought _all _girls were crazy, especially the ones in Fairy Tail. The guild seemed to breed crazy girls.

He knew that she was somewhat crazy strong, but he had yet to witness her fight seriously. Other than her huge infatuation on Gray that may or may not have disappeared already, Natsu was actually prepared to say that Juvia was one of the guys.

Only she wasn't a guy.

She was a pretty _female _mage who was stronger than she made herself out to be and more beautiful than she claimed to be. Natsu shook his head once more before following the girl whose element of magic was a complete opposite to his.

This 'pairing project' was turning out to be a good idea. He wanted to know more about Juvia now.

* * *

Juvia was wearing the biggest blush on her face as she wrapped her arms around her chest, trying to cover herself up more than the outfit that she was wearing. Everyone was now indoors and Natsu was off hiding somewhere in order to jump the Vulcans. It was now up to Juvia to lure out the most perverted creatures and let them take her so she can release all the females.

"Juvia hates this. Juvia really, _really_ hates this. Juvia will kill Natsu when this job is done. How did Natsu even get his hands on this sort of things huh? Is he a hidden hentai lover?!" Juvia had many questions for the dragon slayer and some were making her very curious, but at the same time extremely angry. She couldn't have asked for a worse partner.

Then her ears twitched which was weird. She could have sworn that there was a noise in the distance coming towards her, getting closer and closer. Is this what being a dragon slayer felt like? She looked into the bushes where Natsu was hiding and he was pointing in front of her. "They're coming!"

Juvia's heart almost gave out there and then. That sounded like a whole breed of them! "Juvia gives up, Juvia wants out of this! Please Natsu, let's just leave!"

She saw his eyes flash dangerously at her as he gave her a glare, but he didn't say anything. Juvia could do any job, any job she wanted to and never feel scared! But this was madness! She was now standing in the middle of an empty street wearing nothing but the most revealing _cave girl _outfit! Seriously, where did Natsu get this sort of thing from?!

Suddenly, she could see them. They were white and they came in a herd of at least 20. Juvia braced herself, thinking of ways to get back at Natsu. But then again, she should have shot herself before taking this job to get away from the misery she would be facing right now. She didn't know what kind of job this would be and she never ever came across a Vulcans so she didn't know what they would be like!

They suddenly stopped and Juvia could literally see the hearts pounding within their eyes as they stared at her dreamily. She blushed once more, as they were looking at her like she was the fancy mantle piece on their fireplace. (**A/N: **I actually made that up and I don't know where that thought of a mantle piece came from...) She really didn't understand how Lucy could wear things like this day in day out!

After their 10 seconds of staring, they jumped her and Juvia let out a squeal. They pulled at her and touched her in so many inappropriate places, raising the skirt and trying to tug off the furry bra.

"Ooooh, she's so pretty!"

"Better than the others!"

"Why don't we take her back to make her our Queen and release the other ugly women!"

"Yes! Let's go!"

They all took Juvia as she was screaming and trying to pull free as she was constantly shifting away from their hands. She wasn't allowed to use her magic as it would immediately set them off. They were apparently a whole lot smarter than most people would say they are. And they're crazy strong. Natsu had told her that Macao had to fight off 20 before one of them managed to transform into him and take him out.

Natsu then jumped out of the bush and followed behind closely. His teeth were gritted when he was watching the Vulcans do what they were doing to Juvia. He almost blew his cover and was going to jump out and attack them for touching her so inappropriately. Her screams for one, weren't fake. She was struggling to get away from them and they just wouldn't stop. That made his blood boil.

"Don't worry Juvia, I'll come for you."

~x~

The Vulcans stood in front of all the women as they were freezing. Juvia had been tied up and was thrown to the floor. She growled at them which just made the creatures go wild as to how feisty she was. Juvia looked up at the women while the Vulcans were shouting between themselves.

"Juvia is a mage from Fairy Tail and her partner should be here soon to get you girls out safely okay?"

The girls started crying in happiness and that was when _he _showed up. Juvia looked up and watched as Natsu's fire was wiping out the Vulcans with nothing but pure rage. Juvia took this as the time to break out of her binds before getting the women out.

"Okay, so is everyone here? That's good! The village is waiting for your arrival! Juvia and Natsu will take it from here." They started hugging her one by one, happy that someone came to get them before they started running back to the village.

By the time Juvia got back into the cave, Natsu had already done the job by knocking them all out and tied them all together. He wore a devilish smirk that made him look so handsome. That thought made Juvia face palm as she wanted to slap herself for such thoughts.

"Seeing as they like it to be so cold in here, why don't I leave it to be permanently in fire? Hehehe."

Juvia jumped back and out of the cave as all the ice started melting and it was almost like a sauna. The Vulcans wouldn't be able to function properly and they wouldn't even be able to move. Especially with the amount of rope that Natsu had used and the way he tied it.

He finally looked up and walked out of the cave before taking a look at Juvia. "Are you okay Juvia? The way they were touching you made me want to kill them!"

That made Juvia remember what she was wearing before she blushed deeply again and wrapped her arms around her body. It was so embarrassing! Natsu started laughing and Juvia glared at him halfheartedly. "Let's just go back to back to the village and no looking at Juvia! She isn't decent! Or pretty enough to look at."

She said that last part under her breath and she thought she said it so very quietly to not reach his sensitive ears, but it still did. He frowned once more as he was behind her walking. It annoyed him that she thought she wasn't pretty! After what he just did for her! There was no way those creatures were ever going to touch her again, that was for him alone!

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

Juvia jumped as she turned around to face her new partner. She was on high alert as she was looking around for potential danger. "What is it Natsu?"

"Oh, oh nothing. Just had a thought on something shocking." Natsu couldn't tell her what he just thought of! He would finally get slapped or something! That would be so embarrassing! Juvia just gave him a worried look. As stupid as he was, what would get him that shaken up? She decided to leave it because the answer might either make her regret asking him or it could be embarrassing for them both.

"Well if Natsu is sure then."

He laughed shakily before scratching the back of his head and he started walking next to her again. He pushed that thought the the back of his head and tried his best not to look at Juvia before he had another thought that came into his head.

"Are you okay though?" Juvia raised an eyebrow at him in question and he elaborated. "They didn't pull you too hard or grope you too hard, did they?" Juvia blushed heavily, her neck and face turning shockingly scarlet as she looked down at the ground.

"N-no! They didn't do anything that Juvia couldn't handle." It was so shaming and she couldn't get the feel of their hands off of her. It was so disgusting and she was sure that she would never do a job near an icy environment or she would stay clear from all Vulcans. If she was going to ever _have _to confront one, she was going to make sure that she had on suitable clothes.

Natsu let out a sigh, a signal that he was happy that she hadn't been manhandled by natures most perverted creatures next to human men. "That's good! I was worried, you know, because you're my partner and I have to make sure you're okay."

Juvia didn't know why, but it sounded like there was another underlying reason as to why he was asking her if she was okay. She ignored the feeling as she continued walking back through to the village. This money was the only thing that was worth her time right now.

* * *

"What's up with Juvia? She's been hugging and keeping to herself for the past few days." Natsu and Juvia had gotten back from their mission four days ago and Juvia was still feeling a bit shaken up. Not only that, she hadn't looked in a certain ice mage's direction ever since the pairing project began. It actually made Gray frown a little bit.

It seemed like Mira's plan was working. Many people only hung out with a certain group or they only spoke to the same people day in and day out. With the project, it gave everyone a variety and a different setting and conversation. This way, it would bring the guild even closer. Also, set up _new_ potential love interests.

Natsu looked over at his partner who had insisted that he go and sit with his team while she sorted some things out. She had paid her rent on time which was good for her, but she now didn't have enough money for her grocery and other things. It was making her stressed out.

"Oh you know, the mission was to sort out some Vulcans and I kinda mighta used her as bait..." Now to Gray, that didn't really mean anything to him seeing as he had never come across the stupid creatures, but it put fire in Erza and Lucy's eyes as they glared heavily onto him.

"Oh, so you used innocent Juvia as bait huh?" Erza cracked her knuckles and she was more than prepared to give Natsu a delicious 'knuckle sandwich.' Natsu flinched away from the angry redhead as he knew that his life was on the line, only to almost fall into Lucy who had a bitter look on her face with her hands on her hips.

"You sick pervert, you're almost as bad as Gray. I bet you gave her some degrading outfit too."

Natsu let out a weak laugh because he kinda _had _given her a degrading outfit to wear, but then he stood up in anger. "HEY! I AM NOT A BIGGER PERVERT THAN GRAY!"

Gray who had been confused by the whole conversation was most definitely not confused by the fact that Natsu had just called him the biggest pervert. He stood up in anger as well, butting heads with his polar opposite. "WHAT DID YA JUST CALL ME, YOU FLAME BREATH?!"

"Are ya deaf as well as perverted, you exhibitionist? Doesn't look like life is going well for a guy like you!" That was all Gray needed as the perfect excuse to start a fist fight with his frenemy. He punched Natsu in the jaw and he smacked Elfman's back while he was talking to Evergreen.

The huge man fell forward, almost crushed his partner as she started screaming at him and slapping him. She went as far as trying to remove her glasses. Elfman got off of her and apologized heavily before he turned around to glare at Gray, seeing as he didn't even see Natsu on the floor in front of him because of his huge build. "I don't know what you just threw at me, but I almost crushed Ever and that isn't manly AT ALL!"

He roared as he grabbed a chair and launched it at the ice mage. The said ice mage's eye twitched as he watched the wooden object flying towards his face. He quickly punched it away from him and it smacked Macao. All in all, another guild brawl started yet _again. _

Natsu stood up and when he was going to find Gray to beat the living shit out of him for what he did to him, he noticed that Juvia was getting ready to leave the guild. He frowned as he watched her leaving without notifying him. His hands were twitching as he really wanted to beat up Gray, but he was drawn to making sure that Juvia was okay. He sighed in anger as he then went after the water mage. For some strange reason, she was his top priority and it wasn't because of the project. He felt guilty for using her as bait.

He reached her just before she got through the doors. She grabbed her gently. "Hey Juvia where are you-"

He never got to finish asking his question because then Juvia punched him in his face. Her eyes widened and so did Natsu's as they were staring at each other while everyone else was fighting. Juvia's hand fell down to her side as she stood there in surprise and Natsu didn't know that she would punch him.

"J-Juvia is so sorry! Is Natsu okay?" She came forward and cupped his cheek as she was checking face to make sure that she didn't leave a mark. Something stirred within Natsu as he growled in his throat from Juvia's touch. His eyes were closed as he breathed in deeply to smell Juvia. She smelt like ocean breeze and bubblegum and it was so intoxicating.

Eventually, her hands fell to her side when she saw that she left no mark. Natsu's eyes flew open as he was suddenly staring at the girl in front of him in a different light. Her eyes were downcast as one arm was wrapped around her midriff.

"Juvia is sorry, it's just that ever since our last job, Juvia doesn't want any guy touching her. It feels weird and it makes Juvia remember that night."

Natsu's heart was bleeding for her and he didn't want her to feel this way. He heard her sigh before she looked up at him. "Juvia needs to go home and rest before she comes back out to find another job."

Natsu's eyebrows were raised. They just came back from a job not too long ago! Maybe she was trying to get in as many jobs as possible so that she could have a headstart on the next S class-mage trials!

"Another job? But we just got back from one like four days ago."

"Yeah, well thanks to Natsu, Juvia doesn't have enough money to feed herself. She may have paid for her rent, but there isn't enough money extra for Juvia to eat. Juvia will see Natsu tomorrow anyway, okay?"

She just waved to him and started walking away and Juvia watched her leaving him. He wanted to stop her, but there was nothing that he could do. Plus, that punch actually hurt him so much that he didn't want her to do it again if he had accidentally ended up touching her again. He didn't want to see her this way and he was going to make it up to her.

_"I'm never going to eat huge portions again...Nah, we all know that won't happen, even I know that."_

Instead, Natsu decided that he was going to take a job with Happy and he was going to give Juvia all the money she would need for her daily livings. He was going to get Juvia to not find him annoying, even if it was the last thing he was going to do.

* * *

So how was that chapter for ya? Did that fill up your constant need for me to pump out stories? Guys, I'm not your cash cow! Lol I'm kidding because sometimes, I'm the exact same way with some stories that I follow lol. I know the feeling.

Please don't forget to rate or hate, flames or floods! Give me some reviews and Lolita will give some love!

Also, for any of you Navia lovers, I know I've said it before, but there are a whole LOAD of Navias out there waiting to be read or seen (and some of them need to freaking UPDATE since they've only released like one or two chapters) so you guys need to follow the community set up by my ultimate bestest friend on fanfiction Lanvia-chan and it's called **SPREAD THE NAVIA.** Seriously you guys, follow the community and help us pump out as many navias as we can because the cult needs to spread!

Lolita-love,

Lolita-chan


	3. Chapter 3

Hey Dark Gothic Lolita here!

Tehee, I see you people are enjoying this story so far and I can only say, thank you! Thank you for enjoying it you Lolita-lovers! I've had nothing but positive feedback from you guys and I absolutely love it hehehe!

**Dark: **Thank you once again my darling for your review! I don't mind if you didn't get to review on time, all that counts is that you managed to do it okay?! Okay! I'm glad you enjoy the pace of the story, I had to make it seem somewhat realistic with how she was going to abandon her feelings for Gray if you get what I mean! I'm glad you like it so much though!

So let's jump onto the story shall we? It's time to continue reaaading!

I don't own Fairy Tail or their characters! I do however own the most Navia stories. (Lol I'm joking, I don't know why that big headed moment jumped in there) I apologize for any poor spelling and use of grammar!

ENJOY!

* * *

**The pairing project**

**Chapter three**

Juvia hadn't seen Natsu for a week now. Time was ticking by with the whole pairing project and she should have been happy that he was wasting time that she didn't have to see him, but that was not at all the case. Actually, it was quite the contrary.

She was gutted. She was actually upset.

She never actually thought that she might miss the fire fool and she found herself annoyed that she did so. She kept on trying to lie to herself that she only missed him because he owed her for what he did to her, yet he wasn't even here to try and make up for it.

"That selfish fire dragon slaying bastard!"

She paced around in her apartment after having gone to the guild, only to find that he was not there. She couldn't ask Mira if she had seen him because then she was going to suffer the consequences of not knowing where her partner was.

She stopped her pacing before looking at herself in the mirror and she shook her head at herself. "No, Juvia doesn't mean that, Natsu isn't a bastard."

She sighed to herself, feeling extremely bored. Her life had only been based around the infatuation of Gray, but that was now over and if anyone had asked her, she would have said that she was merely observing her precious Gray-sama from afar and destroying any love rivals.

That made Juvia laugh out at the thought herself. "Juvia was so silly! But yeah, Juvia was a stalker."

She looked around her place and sighed before leaving. She heard that Natsu lived somewhere in some shack in the forest. All she had to do was go and find him there! Or maybe he had gone somewhere because even Happy went with him.

"No harm in trying..."

~x~

Juvia was horrified, disgusted but also amazed. Amazed at how messy someone could make their house. Natsu's house was a complete _MESS! _Either he lived here or he he didn't because this place should be demolished. This was house was not deemed fit for human living!

"At this rate, Juvia is ready to believe that Natsu is _far _from being a human. Just what the hell is all of this?!" Who knew that the fire mage was a hoarder, considering the way he destroyed things way beyond recognition to even be able to keep it.

There was no way that there was going to be a clue in here as to where Natsu and Happy had gone. It was just too messy for them to even leave a trace as to where they've gone.

But this was just it! Her ticket out of boredom! Clearly Natsu was never going to get round to cleaning his own damn house, meaning he had to always sleep at Lucy's house, Juvia was going to do the best thing a partner could ever do.

Clean his messy and disgusting and probably disease hoarding house.

* * *

When Natsu got back, he made sure that he didn't head to the guild first. He figured that if he were to walk in, everyone would ask him where Juvia went and he would say that she went home early, then Mira would say that he should have walked her home to make sure that she got back alright because they're partners.

Okay so maybe it was Happy who gave him the warning.

"Juvia? Helloooo! Hmm she's not here, but she definitely was, her scent is quite strong."

"Then obviously, use your nose to find out where she went!"

Natsu blushed at how obvious that should have been. Ever since their last job, he had been extremely worried for the water mage. It also didn't help that there was something going on within him due to being close to the water mage. Besides, whether she meant it or not, than punch actually hurt him and she didn't even try and put any power behind it!

"Okay then..." He took in a deep breath and he could smell it going into the forest. He didn't show it to Happy, but mild panic settled in his heart.

"Nothing good comes out a girl walking alone in the forest, let's go Happy!"

He started running and Happy was flying after him. "Aye sir!"

Happy wore nothing but a smirk on his face as he was flying. He wanted to taunt Natsu so badly because he could hear the panic in his voice, but he didn't say anything. He was going to observe them and tell Mira all about his findings.

_"Maybe he liiiikes her!"_

~x~

Natsu burst into his home and him and Happy screamed at how clean the place was. "A burglar cleaned our house!"

Happy face palmed. One, no one came to steal from houses in the forest because clearly the only people who lived in forests either couldn't afford to live in the town, making them have nothing valuable to steal or they hated humans. (Porlyusica) Two, EVERYONE in Magnolia knew that this was Natsu's house. Have fun trying to steal from him.

"Natsu, clearly the scent of Juvia ended up here, meaning she's the one who cleaned the place!" It was a good thing too. What if one day, Carla wanted to inspect their house to see how how clean it was and that was the only way he could get her to date him?! Having a messy house was NOT something Happy planned on bringing Carla back to.

"Yes, Natsu should listen to Happy because what Natsu just said was ridiculous." Juvia came out of the kitchen rolling her azure eyes. She didn't know why she felt so elated when Natsu had shown up. Secretly, she hoped that he liked the fact that she cleaned his house.

"This place was a dump, but luckily for Natsu, Juvia was bored so she cleaned the place up a bit."

Natsu and Happy's jaws dropped. A _BIT?! _She cleaned up a LOT!

"Wow, I don't know what to say! Thanks!" Natsu took to looking around the place even more and he closed his eyes and breathed in gently. It smelt like Juvia and he was enjoying that. The scent was so lush and it wrapped itself around him, as though it was much more than a scent, but an aura.

"That's fine." She gave him a sunny smile before it dropped slowly and she made her way over to him. Happy could see that she wasn't happy about something and made it clear that he wanted no part of it. He laughed weakly and politely took a few steps back and away from Natsu.

"Where was Natsu?! You left Juvia here for a whole week without even telling her where Natsu was going! So much for partners! Is that how partners are supposed to behave?"

Natsu noted that she didn't sound as angry as probably had hoped to sound. She sounded more...sad and alone. He gulped harshly when he thought of that, putting her through that for the past week. He also noticed that she wasn't yelling, but he knew that Erza would have been shaking him by his shoulders and Lucy would have been yelling at him if these words were coming from either one of their mouths. Juvia sounded more resigned.

"But Juvia, I did it for you."

Both Happy and Juvia's eyes almost bugged right out of their sockets in surprise and shock.

"W-what?!" Juvia thought her ears were failing her. Her cheeks were so ready to flare up in a beautiful colour.

There was only one thing going on in Happy's mind and that was that he wished for some popcorn so that it would be more entertaining to watch. _"Talk about a plot twist!"_

"Yeah, I left because of you."

Juvia drooped, thinking that maybe she had been too uptight and annoying for him that he had to leave her for a week for a breath of fresh air. Happy covered his mouth in more shock. The way he just dashed her hopes likes that!

_"ANOTHER plot twist!"_

"I know that I took practically all of your money and then I used you as bait against those Vulcans which was really evil of me, so I thought I could make it up to you by going on a few jobs to make some money for you and that way you earned without working!"

_"Natsu is the master of a triple plot twist!"_

Juvia was stuttering harshly as Natsu showed her how much money he made for her. "I took out some for myself obviously, but this is all yours."

Juvia shakily took the bag of jewels as she couldn't believe it. No way was all this money for her! She looked up at him, making sure that she wasn't going to cry. Instead, she laughed as she grabbed him in for a hug.

"Juvia can't believe that Natsu would do something like this for her! Oh, Juvia thanks Natsu soooo much!"

Natsu was surprised before he was blushing and hugging her back slowly. His arms arms fit around her waist perfectly and there was no gap between them, making Natsu be able to feel how generous her chest area was. Her scent was now directly in front of him and he let out a pleased growl which made Juvia look up at him weirdly.

"Is Natsu okay?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, I'm fine!" They both pulled away and Happy was smirking behind Natsu. He could see it now, they were going to go through a love story soon enough! Whether it was going to be a typical one or not was the big question because he didn't know much about Juvia or her habits. He only knew of her stalker ones which she seemed to have stopped now. It would be fun to see what kind of person Juvia really is when she's not being obsessive.

"I'm going to head back to the guild! I heard Mira has fish for me."

They both waved to him as he flew out of the door. Juvia just looked down at her jewels in delight, feeling the urge to hug Natsu washing over her again, but she didn't. One hug was enough for one day.

"Juvia still can't believe that Natsu did this for her! How can Juvia repay Natsu?"

He laughed before shaking his head and rubbing his neck as he looked off to the side. Looking at her beam like that at him was making some instincts that he didn't want, kick in.

"Nothing! That was me paying you back for all the money you wasted on me. Also, I come back to find that you cleaned my place. Thanks for that by the way."

He grinned at her and Juvia smirked a little bit. "Now, does Natsu think that he can keep this place tidy?"

He shook his head, the grin getting bigger. "Nope!" Juvia whacked him playfully and she laughed.

"Baka! Natsu better keep this place tidy, Juvia didn't waste her time doing this only for it to be messy an hour later!"

"I thought you said that you were bored and that that is the only reason you did this for me?"

Juvia blushed before walking around him to get to the door. "Don't sass Juvia. Anyway, let's get back to the guild so that Juvia can pretend that she just got back from the job with Natsu."

He nodded it her, walking in step as they were leaving.

"So what kind of job did Natsu and Happy have to do then?"

"Oh you know, I took a lot of jobs that had to do with Vulcans." He felt Juvia hesitate next to him, obviously remembering what had happened to her on their last job together. "I wanted to destroy every Vulcan so that you never have to go through that again. Just taught them a lesson."

Juvia laughed a little bit, her arms wrapped herself to keep herself reassured. "Juvia thanks Natsu once again. Juvia can't believe she's going to say this, but Natsu is an alright partner."

Her soft smile made him smile back at her. _"Yes! She doesn't hate me anymore!"_

"Thanks."

Natsu felt some kind of attraction towards her and he didn't understand what it was. He had to shake his head to relieve him of the feeling. Juvia noticed that he suddenly seemed out of it. She cupped his face. Oh, if only she knew how bad that was.

"Is Natsu okay, he's sweating bullets!" She looked at him all over and Natsu closed his eyes. It almost felt like his fire was eating away at him on the inside which was weird for him to experience. Juvia didn't know what to do, but she wasn't going to leave him.

"Juvia is going to take Natsu back home okay? Luckily we're still in the forest." She grabbed his hand and started pulling him back to his house. That's when her back met the tree and Natsu had both his arms next to her head, almost trapping her.

Her eyes were as wide as saucers as she watched the dragon slayer in front of her. His breathing was ragged and it looked like his eyes were going to turn to red. Oddly enough, Juvia didn't feel scared, but more worried for her friend. Was he okay? Did she do something wrong?

"**You'**re s**o pre**tty." It sounded as though he was trying to calm himself down and not let whatever was happening to him control him. Juvia then randomly remembered something that Gajeel had told her back at Phantom Lord.

_"Hey ameonna? I want to let you know something."_

_Juvia turned her head to look at her friend, giving him an emotionless look. Her perfect eyebrow was raised up. Gajeel rarely ever wanted to start a conversation, especially with her._

_He continued even without her saying anything. "Because I'm a dragon slayer, we have this thing called mating season. This only starts happening when when a dragon slayer turns 18. A week before our 18th birthday, we go through the stages of mating. You know, being possessive of our mates and all that."_

_Juvia took it all in before fully facing her supposed friend. "Okay, so why is Gajeel-kun telling Juvia all of this then?"_

_That was the first time that Juvia had ever seen Gajeel blush, even though it was a light blush. "Well by the looks of it, you never know, you might end up becoming my mate or something."_

_Juvia blinked before blushing and facing away from her friend. Gajeel's blush also increased. "Well you would only be my mate if there was a bond between us. In other words, if I like you or something."_

Juvia gasped and Natsu finally pulled away from her. "I'**m sorry Ju**via. I'll g**o **now."

He ran back in the direction of his house and Juvia watched him running with a blush on her face. She couldn't believe it. Natsu _liked _her?! No way, maybe it was all wrong. Maybe he wasn't mating! She sighed deeply. She didn't even know when Natsu's birthday was.

"Where is Happy when you need him?"

~x~

Natsu slammed into his house as he was panting. He then took in a deep breath and that made it even worse because her scent was here! He went and fell on his bed as he stared up at the ceiling.

His birthday was next week and he knew what this meant. It was time for him to find a mate and it turns out that his mate is going to be JUVIA! Well wasn't that just great? Maybe it was just because she was there when he was beginning to feel the effects of mating and he just did that to the first girl he saw? Yeah that was it.

He sighed deeply and rubbed his face with his hand. He couldn't go to the guild, especially if Juvia was going to be there. He didn't want to go through that again, or worse yet, he didn't want to hurt her.

No, Juvia couldn't be his mate. No way. It wasn't that he didn't like her, no far from it! Maybe? Come on, the girl was hot and especially after what he gave her to wear on the mission, he kinda wanted to see her in that again.

He stood up in surprise, as though a spider had just landed on his face or something. "WHAT THE HELL, I CAN'T LIKE JUVIA THAT WAY!"

There was only one way for him to sort out this problem and it was going to hurt his damn pride so much. He was actually planning on doing something he would make sure would never happen again. This would be a one off time and he was going to make sure that it would only happen this one time.

He was going to ask Gajeel for help.

He almost gagged as he made his way out of his clean house. "Aww man, I think I just threw up in my throat just thinking about it!"

~x~

Juvia ran into the guild and caught her breath by leaning on the nearest table to her. Her heart was about to explode from how fast she had tried to make her way over here. She looked away through heavy lidded eyes trying to spy for her friend. She growled lowly when she saw that he wasn't there before she saw someone else that she made her way over to.

Laxus.

He was a dragon slayer too and even if he wasn't really trained by one personally, he still had the magic within him meaning that he too should have been affected by this useless _mating season _thingie.

"Laxus." She called him casually and she was allowed to do so. Ever since they were on the same team, all of Fairy Tail team B had gotten close together. He raised his head up at her, giving her a bored look as his team argued around him.

"Juvia. Something I can help you with?" He nodded his head back at her, acknowledging her existence which she was grateful for. He seemed to be in an okay mood so it was possible to have a decent conversation with him.

"Yes, Juvia needs crucial information. Erm, away from Laxus' team." They both looked over to the team to see that they were now arguing about something that seemed to be pathetic and Laxus sighed and nodded, standing up from his stool with a drink in his hand and they walked up to an empty table.

"Okay, what is it that you need my help?"

"Juvia needs more information on mating season." He gaped openly at her which seemed odd for him and she was growing frustrated with him. She liked him better when she couldn't read any emotions on his face. "Well? Stop looking like a dork and tell Juvia!"

He snickered at her as he set his drink down. She had totally disregarded every bit of respect for him ever since he said that she should do so. It was his way of apologizing to her when he had attacked her. Instead, he even saw the water mage as a younger and witty sister.

"Now why would Juvia want to know about mating season hm?" He was mimicking her style of speaking and she glared at him for that. He laughed once more before deciding to be serious.

"A week before our 18th birthday, we start feeling effects of wanting to be mated. We become possessive, get angry easily and become jealous, blah blah blah." He raised an eyebrow when he saw Juvia waving her hand around.

"Juvia already knows _that_! What Juvia wants to know is if these things happen around the person that they want to mate or around any woman."

She may have been beating about the bush, but he knew that she knew that he knew that a dragon slayer clearly wanted to mate with her. Her eyes were almost challenging him to speak up and tell her who he thought it was, but he kept his mouth shut, not wanting to anger her any further. As far as he was concerned, she could still be in love with Gray.

"Well at first it will develop with any woman who is in trouble around them and they may want to help out. Maybe three days before their birthday, they focus solely on the girl they want to mate with. On the day of their birthday, they HAVE to be mated, no matter what otherwise they can go crazzzyyyy."

Juvia gulped. She didn't want Natsu going crazy, especially if his birthday was next week meaning she still had to be his partner. It wasn't exactly three days before his birthday yet, so it could very well be Lucy he wants to mate with. But then again, she didn't want to think of the two of them having sex as a form of Natsu 'mating' with Lucy.

Laxus laughed at the look on Juvia's face, knowing fully when what was playing in her mind. Juvia jumped as his laugh brought her out of her thoughts very rudely. She gave him an annoyed look. "What?"

"To mate, we don't need to have _sex._ It just means you mark them to show others that you're theirs. After all, when I was 18, I marked Mira when she was only 14. Did you really think I was going to have sex with her when she was _that _age?!"

"Well seeing as Laxus was a crazy teen, Juvia wouldn't have doubted it," she mumbled to herself. She then realised that Laxus probably heard her and she was right when his face looked like thunder. "Hehe, Juvia was just joking, Laxus knows that right?"

He 'tched' at her poor attempt at saving herself, but he left it alone for now. She sighed in relief before sitting on the stool next to him. "So has Laxus seen Gajeel-kun around lately? It's like he vanished from Earthland ever since we started...the...project."

She face palmed and Laxus barked out a laugh at her stupidity. How she could forget that at the start of the pairing project, it was Gajeel's birthday? Seeing as Levy turned out to be his partner and they liked each other already, either Gajeel marked her already or they went the full way.

"You're so stupid, Juvia."

Juvia gave Laxus a look that could turn sugar sour as she watched him sip on his drink. She flicked her finger and controlled the water within the beer and it spilled down him, making him splutter. He coughed dangerously and she gave him a smirk while he glared at her.

"Clean it up."

She rolled her eyes. "What, no please? Could get Laxus far if he did say it." She did it anyway, flicking her finger again and the beer was removed from his shirt, as though it was never there in the first place.

She got up to leave him and when she did, she couldn't help but notice that her partner was now making his way around the guild. She paled more than she was already and she tried to hide her face. Hopefully he would make his way over to his team.

Laxus raised an eyebrow at her strange behaviour before smirking when he saw that the source of her strange behaviour was due to a certain dragon slayer walking into the guild. "Good luck with him and make sure you use protection!"

Juvia's face portrayed one of complete horror when those words left Laxus' mouth. She started stuttering, not even able to get the words out of her mouth before she stomped away from him and let out a scream of frustration.

She then saw Natsu make his way over to his team and he sat down on the other side of Lucy. She sighed. She wasn't sure if she should be happy that he went to go and sit next to Lucy which would be his true mate, or upset that he couldn't even smell that she was there. Her head was so confused and dealing with Natsu wasn't going to make it better in any way.

"Mira, can Juvia get a glass of water please?" The beauty nodded her head with a smile on her face. Happy had already informed her of what he had seen by the two partners and she couldn't have been any happier. If Juvia had known of what Happy had done, she would have been so happy that he didn't get to see what happened when he left because Mira would have been gushing about it by now.

"So, how do you think the whole pairing project is coming along?"

Juvia shrugged, chugging down half her water. She didn't seem to care as she just looked off to the side, making sure it wasn't in Natsu's direction. "Juvia doesn't mind it. It's different, that's for sure. It's a big change compared to what Juvia is used to."

Mira frowned a little before smiling. She had to think of a way to push the two of them together faster because by what Juvia was saying, it sounded like much wasn't going to happen at all.

"That's good. Why aren't you sitting with Natsu?" Maybe she was jealous that he was sitting with Lucy and not her? Mira could only hope that that was the case.

"Juvia is letting Natsu hang out with his team because she knows it must be weird to hang out with a girl he barely spoke to before. Natsu must be missing his team, so Juvia is letting him talk to them."

Juvia was so proud at the little lie she had just made up. To think that she didn't stutter or stumble over her words to give her away! She must be pretty good at these sort of things! She peered at Mira's face and there wasn't a trace of doubt to show that she didn't believe her. Mira just shrugged in reply.

"Yeah it must be weird, but at least you're getting along, right?"

Juvia hated to admit it, but yeah, she was having fun with the fire dragon slayer. She wanted to growl in annoyance but she held her tongue as she just glared long and hard at the table in front of her. "Yes, we are," she replied with a tight voice. Mira had to turn around to hide her giggles.

"Hey Mira and..."

Juvia froze when she heard Natsu's voice. She didn't want to turn around to face him, especially after what had happened in the forest. She could still feel his warm breath on her ear and let's not forget the fact that he called her pretty. No, she _had _to forget it! She couldn't afford to remember what had happened between them. It was nothing but a mere fluke. After all, Laxus had said that he was going to be the same way around girls who had been in trouble.

_"Ooh, idea! Maybe if Juvia can get us a job with a girl in trouble, Juvia can be assured that Natsu doesn't want Juvia to be Natsu's mate. Even if Natsu is handsome and cute and he has great muscles and..."_

"WHAAAAAT?!"

The two other people at the bar jumped in surprise when Juvia let out that shout. She turned red when she realised she had yelled that out loud. It reminded Juvia of the time when Natsu had done the same time back at the cave, but she shook the thought out of her head.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, Juvia thought of a good idea! Let's go on another job, okay Natsu? It will be fun, ne?" Her eyes seemed to sparkle in Natsu's opinions and he was enticed by them and Mira couldn't help but be stunned into silence at the scene that was unfolding in front of her. Happy was actually right! No, she didn't need to push the relationship, it was moving at a good enough pace by the looks of things!

"Yeah, I guess it could be fun."

Juvia sighed in relief as it got rid of the tension that was floating around them. She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the job board feeling extremely enthusiastic about the whole thing which was making Natsu a very confused dragon slayer.

"Those two are going to be a handful of a couple." Mira smiled to herself as she wiped down the bar.

"They sure are." Mira looked up to see her mate taking a seat in front of her. She grinned at him and he grinned back. "Juvia came up to me asking about mates and how it all works."

Mira gasped as she looked back at the new partners and how they were arguing on what they should be doing. "No way! You think that..."

"Obviously! I only told her the basics like the fact that he will become possessive and what happens a week before his birthday. I said that he will be protective of other girls who are in trouble until three days before his birthday where it will be only about the girl he likes. I _may_ have forgotten to say that a sign to look for when he sees that girl he likes is that his eyes will change to the same colour as his fire."

He smirked at that, but then again, Juvia hadn't told him whether or not Natsu's eyes had turned red, so maybe she wasn't the one for him. Mira smirked back.

"I can't wait to see what would go on between those two!"

* * *

So guys, how did you think that chapter went? I think it went pretty well, no? Oh well hahaha! I'm pretty sure we've all seen Natsu's house once right? I think it was messy that one time we saw it. He had the maid outfit that Lucy used on their first ever job together. Remember it now? Or was that a dream? I hope not lol.

So please don't forget to rate or hate, flames or floods! Lolita-hugs for everyone of you guys!

Lolita-chan


	4. Chapter 4

Hey Dark Gothic Lolita here!

How is everyone this fine day/evening/night/morning/afternoon? All I know is, it's almost midnight over here in the UK and I have school in the morning. Yipee :(

So yes, while I'll be extremely tired, I just HAD to bring out this chapter for you guys to read, like I made it for you people, I can't just keep it sitting around, not being read! I expect that by the time I wake up, I get A LOT of reviews on this chapter okay? I may give shoutouts, but I've never really dedicated anything to anyone (except from like 2 stories) This chapter, is expecially for **LANVIA**! I just feel like she's very much so enjoy this chapter tehee.

But that doesn't mean that I've forgotten about you guys! You guys reading this make this worth my time I mean look us fanfiction writers! There are loads of youtubers who dedicate ALL of their time to youtube and get paid, but here we are, dedicating most of our time in order to make sure you guys have something to READ (educational fun tehee) without the money. I swear, if I could, I would just write fanfictions all day, everyday whether I'm getting paid or not. I love this you guys too much!

**Dark: **I thank you for the luck that you gave me in your guest review and I am deeply grateful for that!

I don't own Fairy Tail or their characters, but I do own the OCs that shall appear here in this chapter! I apologize for my poor spelling and grammar too!

ENJOY!

* * *

**The pairing project**

**Chapter four**

Juvia was staring intently at Natsu. She raised an eyebrow at every one of his movements, but none of them were like what she had experienced with him. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes when the girl was gushing at Natsu, and of course the idiot didn't even realise that he was being hit on so he was just grinning like it was an everyday job which it probably was.

"_Why is Juvia here?! Actually, how did Juvia get here?"_

**Flashback**

"So what's the job?"

"Oh Natsu knows, the usual. We're stopping a runaway train that has a few stowaways and some rich man's daughter is on that train. They're currently holding her ransome and asking money. They said that the money should be transferred into their account before the train runs off the cliff and they already have ways on how they want to get off. Actually, now that Juvia thinks about it, it's not really an everyday job."

Natsu let out a low whistle as he heard the description for their job. "Juvia, how could you do this to me?" Juvia stopped dead as she was wondering what he was talking about. He didn't think that she was purposely _turning him on_ did he?! Her cheeks started heating up as she started thinking about the fact that maybe Natsu actually liked her.

"_No! Juvia doesn't like Natsu! Think about Gray, think about Gray! Dammit, even that's not working! Juvia can't fall in love with an idiot!"_

"What has Juvia done to Natsu _now_?"

"You got us a job that has to do with a train! A TRAIN! IT MOVES, CONSTANTLY! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS, DO YOU WANT ME TO DIE BY PUKING OUT MY INSIDES?!"

Juvia blinked at him blankly for a while before she could feel her insides burning in nothing but pure rage. How could she be so _stupid _as to believe that maybe Natsu was going to say that he liked her? She wanted to punch everything in sight, or drown the whole city for crying out loud! She glared at Natsu and he glared back. This was a topic that was dear to him and NO ONE purposely makes him do a job that had transport within it.

"Hey, don't get mad at me, I won't be much help, so if you plan on doing this job by yourself, be. My. Fucking. Guest."

They both growled at each other, lightning crackling between their eyes. It was almost like a rivalry was about to begin between the both of them, much like there was a rivalry between Gray and Natsu. Just when the project seemed to be working for them, they were falling apart when the job hadn't even freaking STARTED!

"Whatever Natsu, let's just go. Besides, we just have to stop the train and _then _we go on the train and rescue the hostages!" Now, Juvia had so hoped that Natsu's mind was that of a simpleton because if he had caught on to the one thing that she had very kept hidden away from him, he might just actually boil her ass.

It took him five seconds which she had to give him props to how fast he was able to see through her little lie. "Okay, so why don't they just try and stop the train from the mains then? Wait...DON'T TELL ME THAT THE THUGS HAVE GOTTEN FULL CONTROL OVER THE DAMN STATION MEANING THAT THE TRAIN CAN'T STOP!"

Juvia let out a weak laugh as she scratched the back of her head. "Okay so maybe, yes, Juvia has fooled Natsu, but we're members of Fairy Tail right? We help people, so please Natsu, Juvia is going to say it nicely juuuust this once okay? WE'RE GOING ON THIS DAMN JOB!"

One thing that Juvia could say about Natsu was that he brought out the bad side in her. All this time, she had been hanging around with Gajeel, she thought her mind would be corrupted by the black haired iron mage, but no. She's stressing herself over this ONE guy who may or may not want her as a mate. Why should it bother her so much?

Finally, Natsu gave in. "Okay, I'm sorry. You're right. Now let's go. Where are we going to be catching this train?" Juvia smirked at him, already having sorted out the whole plan in her head.

"Oh, that's easy. Juvia has been tagging on this job ever since she saw it on the board and now Juvia has every bit of information about it. Juvia knows how fast the train is going and where the train coming from. The train should be going to our nearest station within the next 10 minutes, so if we want to make life easier for ourselves, we should head down there now."

Juvia started walking and Natsu couldn't help but look at her back in awe. The only girl that he ever knew that was smart was Levy! Erza was usually smart, but she was more detective smart. Lucy was smart too, but she was more of the reading type of person. Juvia, well she had already calculated the speed of the train, where the train was coming from and how long it would take for it to get there all in the space of the five minutes that they had been talking!

Natsu had to hold himself back from jumping onto her otherwise he might end up doing something crazy. He had to take in a deep breath. "Aww crap, I don't want it to be my birthday _yet_."

"Did Natsu say something?"

"Nope! I didn't say anything!"

"Okay then, well let's go!" His eyes watched her hips swaying as though he were Happy watching fish being swung in his face. He shut his eyes and let out a deep breath before following the object of his affections.

~x~

Natsu didn't know where he was. One minute, they were both standing on the station's platform, and then the next, Juvia had grabbed onto him and made him jump to his death. That was when he started panicking. Of course! There was only one explanation for him not knowing where he is because he probably has to find his way to heaven! He's obviously dead!

"Natsu? Is Natsu okay?"

Her voice! She sounded like such an angel and he couldn't even see where she was. This must be heaven because now her voice is serenading him off to the pearly gates. He just hoped that the big guy would appreciate him beating up people who deserved it.

"Natsu, Juvia knows that you're awake."

He frowned. Okay, the way she was talking to him was not so heavenly anymore. So maybe the big guy didn't appreciate him beating up the people who deserved it! He was certainly going to hell now! He heard that the flames were hotter than Igneel's!

Then he was flying across the carriage and into the chairs. Then Juvia started at running at him with a worried look worn on her face. She helped him back up as she raised his head up. "Juvia is sorry Natsu! Is Natsu hurt, because then we might not be able to go on with the job!"

"Gah, nah, I'm fine, just got smacked up a bit by a chair. I've had hits from Erza rougher than that, don't you worry." He grinned up at her and he didn't realise that he had almost stopped her heart from working right there and then. He just stood up and started shaking about his head to make sure that he was okay.

"How did we even get on here in the first place? I was pretty sure we were dead and I was on my way to heaven because I could hear your voice...But then I thought I was heading to hell because you sounded mad at me." He quickly had to save himself because he didn't want to give it away to her that he might actually like her. He didn't see her facial expression rise in hope and then plummet in dejection.

"Oh, Juvia did what she did Gray back before we went to the Tower of Heaven. Juvia covered Natsu in her water and then slipped onto the train through whatever gap Juvia could find. Then when Juvia returned us back to our solid form, Natsu practically flew out of Juvia, hitting his head just now."

If Natsu had in anyway been the sort to understand what an innuendo was, he would have been blushing at the double entendre that Juvia had accidentally said. But because he was Natsu, he didn't understand it and he just nodded his head, quite impressed that she was able to do something like that. "Okay, now let's head to the first carriage."

They both started walking through the luxurious train, making their way to the front before something dawned on them both that made them both scream at each other.

"I'M WALKING ON A TRAIN WITHOUT PUKING!"

"HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?! LAST TIME, NATSU WAS A COMPLETE MESS!"

"I KNOW! DID YOU CAST TROIA ON ME WHILE I WAS INSIDE YOU?"

"DOES NATSU THINK JUVIA EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT IS? JUVIA HAD NOTHING INSIDE HER WHEN NATSU WAS INSIDE JUVIA!"

They were both freaking out before Juvia blushed heavily when she replayed their conversation in her head. Juvia was never one with a clean mind and that was because it was over imaginative and that came with a price. In her mind was straight up _porn, _which meant she could see through every sexual joke or innuendo without even meaning to. Now, she just couldn't help but want to burst into flames at what they had just said to each other.

Natsu on the other hand was calming down because he knew exactly what that meant. Because his magic was one of the four elements, when a dragon slayer with one of the four elements has a mate that has the exact opposite magic to them, the effects of feeling dizzy when on transport with your mate disappeared. He stared at Juvia while she was staring at the floor. It was now official. Juvia was definitely his mate. He had already skipped the part of feeling protective over every woman up until three days before his birthday!

"Well whatever, I know what's going on but let's get going." He turned pink as he quickly turned his back on her before walking back to the men.

**End of flashback**

Juvia had rusted all the wheels on the train, making the train come to a stop and the men didn't have a bit of magic on them, making them the easiest opponents that a Fairy Tail mage could ever come across in their life.

"Thank you so much! You have saved our lives! How can we repay you sir, madam?" Juvia and Natsu just looked at each other with a smile and the rich guy's daughter was just hanging on Natsu's arm. Juvia then frowned at her, not impressed with what she was doing at all. She was about to get all defensive and call her a love rival when she stopped herself. They weren't dating. She DID NOT like him in that way and she wasn't going to admit that she liked him like that, whether she did like him or not. The girl was free to cling onto him all she wanted.

"Thanks for saving us, especially me! Would you maybe like to go to dinner with me?"

Juvia couldn't help but snicker, making the girl glare at Juvia. "Oh, I get it, you're jealous that I stole this piece of hunk right in front of you. Please, if you didn't want me to, you would have dated him yourself."

Juvia glared right back at her, taking a step forward. Natsu blinked, watching the two of them fight. "Oh _please,_ Juvia has already had a _simple _dinner with Natsu before, so she's not missing much. Besides, we're only partners, not a couple so Juvia doesn't care whether you date Natsu or not, and you better have a lot of money on you if you want to treat Natsu to a dinner."

Juvia then turned her attention to the other people on the train as she ripped the door open in nothing but anger. They all got out and the clients were waiting to arrest the men who had hijacked the train. They saw Juvia and smiled at her.

"Well done with this job! We're so glad that we picked someone like you to do this for us!" They bowed to Juvia who immediately returned the bow. "Here is your reward." Juvia grinned in happiness as she took the bag of jewels for herself and for Natsu. Everyone was getting off the train, crying that they were saved and they weren't dead. Juvia noticed the 'couple' getting off of the train last and she frowned.

"Annie, you're okay! Your father was so worried!"

She unlatched herself from Natsu with her hands on her hips, her purple hair flying about her in the wind as her equally purple eyes pierced the men in front of her. Juvia couldn't help but admit it in her head that she was a pretty woman.

"Of course he was, I'm his darling Princess! Now, I know he's going to want some bodyguards to take me everywhere I go, so let's get this show on the road and head over to the best restaurant that this town has to offer because I'm hungry and I'm pretty sure that this hottie here is too."

She batted her eyelashes at Natsu and his stomach went rumbling. "Well, whaddya know, I am hungry! Can we go now? Juvia?"

Juvia looked over at him and Annie glared at her. "No, Juvia was planning on heading back anyway. Juvia's done her part of the job so there is no need for Juvia to crash a date that has nothing to do with her."

She was so ready to wipe the smirk that was lingering on Annie's face, but she was the client's daughter and that would have seriously affected their pay. She just had to ignore it and turn around.

"But wait Juvia! I need you!"

Juvia turned back around in surprise. Was he going to say it? Annie's face had turned as hard as stone too as she was not liking where this was heading. Juvia felt amazing, like she was on cloud nine. "W-why would Natsu need Juvia?"

"Because you know the way home! Do you really think I can find my way home with my dizziness? That's crazy!"

Juvia stopped smiling and her face was just an emotionless thing. She couldn't believe that she just fell for that yet AGAIN. That was it, she was never going to fall for Natsu. _He_ may not know it, but he must have been leading her on.

Natsu noticed the way that she turned away from him and something within him was telling him that Juvia was feeling extremely disappointed with him and he didn't even know what he had done wrong.

"Well Juvia could always wait outside while we eat! Come on, let's go."

Annie pulled Natsu and he just looked behind him to see that Juvia wasn't even looking at him, but instead, she had her back towards the 'couple.' He frowned deeply, not understand what was happening, but all he knew is that his decision on eating with Annie was upsetting the hell out of Juvia.

* * *

Juvia came into the guild the next morning in a very foul mood. She didn't want to talk to anyone and it would have helped her a lot if no one talked to her. It was only because of the stupid 'pairing project' that she even came in otherwise she would have taken her anger out at home.

"Juvia? Are you okay?" Lucy was very weary of the angry water mage. She was still so sure that Juvia was mad that she got partnered up with Gray and not her. But if she thought back, she had not heard Juvia call her love rival once since this whole thing started.

"Oh hello Lucy-san. Juvia is just mad because Juvia had to wait outside a restaurant for three hours because Natsu was on a date with some rich girl. Juvia was never even offered any food! Jokes on her though, even with all the money she has, she still couldn't help but faint at how much Natsu rang up her bill to."

Even though she was still upset and angry, Juvia couldn't help but let a small smirk dance on her lips, thinking back to how Annie had literally fainted when she saw the bill and she had to be woken up to pay it. Let's just say she had no interest in Natsu after she saw the way he pigged out.

"Three hours?! No, that's just harsh! First the whole thing with the Vulcans and now this? Why do you let him get away with such nonsense Juvia?! You're supposed to be the strong one and put him in his place!"

Juvia was about to reply, but then she quickly held her tongue. She was about to release a secret that should be so kept within her, not out in the open! Sure she could shout out how much she loves Gray, but this was _Natsu _and she was so certain that she didn't even _like _him like that!

"Juvia doesn't know," is what she settled for in the end. She just sighed and ran her hand over her face. "Anyway, enough about Juvia. What has Lucy-san and Gray-san been doing this whole time?"

While Lucy was telling her what they'd both been getting up to, she couldn't help but notice a difference in Juvia. No 'love rival,' no yelling of her unconditional love for Gray and she hadn't even said the word -sama at the end! What was going on here, was this Juvia or some poor imposter? Seriously, if they were an imposter, they've got the whole Juvia act wrong.

"Well anyway, Gray and I are heading out on a new job today! This time, it's all about _his _rent instead of mine! Can you believe that all this time I haven't been on a job with Erza AND Natsu, we both manage to keep stuff unharmed?"

They both said their goodbyes and Juvia just groaned out in frustration. "Why is liking someone so hard?"

"Love was never something that was supposed to be easy Juvia."

Juvia raised her head up to see Lisanna looking at her with a soft smile on her face. The animal soul mage sat down on the stool next to her best friend and Juvia felt happy that she was here. Lisanna had told her that she was best friend's with the Edo Juvia, so they both became friends here very quickly. Juvia found that she actually had a _girl _friend to rely on, and not Gajeel. He was useless when it came to her wanting sympathy.

"So what's going on in the life of Juvia Lockser today? I've noticed that you've stopped your joyous calling of love to Gray."

Juvia gave her a sarcastic smile. "Juvia has also seen that Lisanna has stopped giving Natsu puppy dog looks." Lisanna glared at her and she smiled innocently in return.

"Touche. Anyway, tell me! Who's the unfortunate guy that Juvia has fallen in love with this time."

"Real funny Lisa-chan." Juvia went quiet for a bit before piping up in a small voice. "Lisanna won't get mad right?" Her friend gave her a confused look. "It's Natsu."

Lisanna burst out laughing. "So? I've moved on and because you trusted _me_, I'll tell you the guy that I'm into! The masked one over there!" Lisanna pointed in the direction of Laxus and his team and there was Bixlow in his manliness and weird tongue. Lisanna couldn't help but blush before putting her finger down and looking away from him.

"So how did this come about and is that why you're so mad that he went on a date with that girl?" She saw Juvia giving her a weird look. "Hey, I might not be into Natsu like that anymore, but he is still my best _boy _friend, like you and Gajeel. He told me this morning before you got in that you were mad at him and haven't spoken to him since the job ended which was hours before you guys came back yesterday."

"It's this mating season stuff! Juvia is confused as to whether Natsu wants Juvia to be his mate or not because Juvia likes him and stuff! After all, he was never protective of the girl that we were saving! Juvia thought that that was supposed to happen."

Lisanna thought about it before snapping her fingers with a smile. "I remember now! Apparently an elemental dragon is different from all the other types of dragons as they're the strongest kinds of dragons, meaning their mating season is different. Natsu said something like if he were to mate with a girl whose magic was opposite to his fire, all the things he's supposed to go through three days before his birthday would happen in the week running up to his birthday."

Juvia paled. No way, no freaking way! "Oh, and because he's an elemental dragon slayer, if they mate with someone of the opposite magic to them, they are no longer affected by transport, meaning because he's fire, when he's with you, he will no longer feel dizzy on anything that moves."

Lisanna grinned at Juvia only to suddenly feel scared for her friend. "Erm, Juvia? Are you okay, you don't look so good."

"Of course Juvia doesn't look so good, now Lisa-chan has scared Juvia because Juvia might ACTUALLY be his _mate_!" Her arms were flapping around her as she was trying to show Lisanna how big of a deal this whole thing was. Lisanna was just laughing at her friend.

"So what? If you're his mate and you _liiiiiike _him, then it is going to work out fine!"

"Juvia sees where Happy got that from. It was LISANNA!" Lisanna just laughed again.

"I taught him well."

Before Juvia could even say anything, Happy came flying into the guild. "I need Laxus and Gajeel! Natsu's going through his mating process and because his mate hasn't shown up, he's going crazy!" Both of the male mages grinned sheepishly at each other, clearly forgetting that Natsu was an elemental dragon slayer, meaning that his way of mating was different. Juvia hadn't even noticed that Levy and Gajeel were back, yet here he was, standing there looking like an idiot.

"_Juvia will get on his case later."_

"Juvia is coming too because she's his partner! Got to make sure that idiot doesn't get into any trouble."

Lisanna snickered next to her as she turned away from her to face the bar. "Oh yeah, _that's _the reason why you're going," she whispered, only Juvia heard her and she whacked her arm. Lisanna laughed and pushed her away. "Go and get your maaaan!"

Juvia blushed but went with them anyway. Laxus was smirking at her and Gajeel was just looking at her strangely. "You sure you want to come ameonna?"

"Oh no, I think she should come. It would be fun don't you think, Juvia?" Juvia blushed again and looked at the ground as Laxus was just taunting her, knowing fully well that she was the one who is Natsu's mate. Gajeel just looked at the both of them strangely before it sank in. Then he laughed.

"Gihihihi, you're _his _mate. I would have never guessed." Juvia rolled her eyes at them both before running off in front of them. Gajeel laughed at Laxus. "She's even in a hurry to see 'im. How adorable. I woulda thought that the bunny girl would have been his mate though."

Gajeel had a point there. If word got out about this, everyone would have been majorly surprised. Everyone would have thought Lucy would have been his mate. Juvia also knew that half of the guild was rooting for 'NaLi,' which is where they wanted for Natsu to end up with Lisanna, or 'NaLu,' obviously rooting for Natsu and Lucy.

"_Well the guild better be prepared because they're all going to get a NaVia."_

* * *

I think it's funny because most people were reviewing, saying that this is moving at an alright pace, but I'm sooo sure that I just sped up the pace a tiny little bit. But that's okay, because that's what I'm planning. I know what I'm doing, it's all part of the Lolita plan tehee!

So guys, how do you think that went though, was it okay? Was it goood? I sooo hope that it was aha! I don't know what I would do if it was a terrible chapter! Probably abandon the story! Hell no, don't worry, I'm just joking. This is really fun to write!

Please don't forget to rate or hate, flames or floods! I love reviews the same way I love you, so please don't be so shy as to leave one! Like lately, I've had a few PMs come through to me and I feel like a celebrity lol.

Also you guys, I can see lemon in the future, would you want me to do the lemon? I don't mind writing it as it's alright, but are you comfortable with reading it? (I am not a pervert but I can't explain how I'm able to write lemon lol. I really don't know) I can easily write around it without lemon, but if you want me to slap it in there, I'm gonna need a reply! Yes, I am now forcing you to review whether you like it or not lol. Until the next chapter guys!

Lolita-chan


	5. Chapter 5

Hey Dark Gothic Lolita here!

So how has everyone been since my last update? Hopefully you've all been fine otherwise you won't get to read this chapter! But seriously guys, how have you all been? No troubles right? No bullies on your case? No parents shouting, no falling out with friends? Hope not and if so, I hope this chapter makes you feel better!

So, I found out something today...**IT'S ACETOWN'S BIRTHDAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ACEY! **So it just happens to be a HUGE coinkydink (coincidence) that I was bringing out a new chapter today when it's his birthday! So in a way, this is kind of my birthday present to him! Wish him happy birthday you guys!

**Angelina: **Hahaha, thanks for your little tip on Juvia's clothes! Don't worry, I added that into the next chapter, so thank you for the help on that! I hope this chapter will be okay for you when Natsu is telling Juvia about his luuuuurve for her! (In his own way of course)

**Dark: **I'm so glad that you enjoyed it even though the story did speed up pace wise lol.

So you guys, in this chapter, you'll see that whenever Natsu is talking, it will be in bold. That's because of something that has clearly happened (I really REALLY don't want to ruin this chapter for you guys.) I'll probably explain in full that the end.

I don't own Fairy Tail or their characters. I apologize for any spelling or grammatical mistakes!

ENJOY!

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**The pairing project**

**Chapter five**

When the four of them got to Natsu's house, Juvia couldn't help but exhale through her nose in an act of anger. The house that she house that she had JUST cleaned was a complete mess. It didn't even last a whole day before the whole place turned out to be a whole lot worse than it had started off. She had told him. She had _warned _him that she wasn't going to be happy if he messed this place up, yet what did he go and do? Mess this place up of course!

"Woah. So this is what an elemental dragon slayer can do if they're not with their mate?" Gajeel was inspecting the mess and clearly with dragon slayers like him and Laxus, they never made a mess like this. Why couldn't she be mated to someone like Sting or Rogue just to make life simple for her or something?! Actually, why couldn't life be simple and let her still be hopelessly in love with Gray and let Lucy have the fire breathing dragon lover? Why did it have to be _her_?

"Happy, what did you do to him, I can't see him." Laxus looked up at the flying exceed and Happy cautiously flew into the house as though he were afraid of his friend. Well he should be, the guy hadn't marked his mate yet.

"I just about retrained him, but I knew he would get out of it soon, so I just flew to get you guys. I don't really know where he could be right now." Juvia reached out for the exceed and rubbed his head to make him feel better. The exceed probably thought he was too weak because he didn't have a battle form like Lily, making him unable to restrain Natsu as well as he would want to.

"Happy has done well, we'll take it from here. Why doesn't happy go and hang out with Carla-san, okay?" He nodded to Juvia before flying out, worried about his ultimate best friend. Juvia just looked around again, knowing fully well she will have to tidy up for him. _"Juvia doesn't actually have to tidy up his house though. Why does Juvia feel like helping Natsu out this much? Must be because we're partners."_

Although she tried to keep on telling herself that, even Juvia herself knew that she was falling for the idiot who she had come to call _partner. _It had only been two weeks and a bit, yet here she was, already liking someone wondered what it would have been like if she had been partnered up with Gray. Would they have been together? Would Gray have confessed his undying love to her? Probably not. In fact, it was almost as though the more they hung out, the more he was getting annoyed with her advances. Probably because he wanted her to be _normal._

"Let's go and find the idiot. Who knows, he might have fallen asleep."

Turns out, Laxus was right. Natsu had fallen asleep on a chair in his room and he strapped harshly to it. His sharp ears made him hear the footsteps walking into his room and he could smell the presence of three people, one that was important to him. He woke up immediately and Juvia couldn't help but gasp. His usually black eyes were now flickering between red, orange and yellow, almost as though it was like fire.

She couldn't help but feel captivated under his watchful stare as his eyes were on her. He looked so wild, so untamed and vicious, yet it didn't put her off one bit. She actually wanted to come closer to him and tell him that it was alright...

Until he started thrashing about in his seat.

"**What are you doing with Juvia? Get away from her, I swear I'll kill you both! She's **_**mine.**_**"**

There was his possessive side and Juvia couldn't help but feel weak at her knees. _"Juvia is...HIS!" _She couldn't believe it. She actually WAS his mate! That and the fact that he was actually going to kill his fellow guildmates if she didn't do something. Laxus and Gajeel were both giving her panicky looks. She raised an eyebrow at them both, wondering why they looked so scared for. "What? Why are you fools staring at Juvia like that?"

"DO SOMETHING YOU WENCH! DO YOU REALLY WANT HIM TO KILL US?!"

Gajeel, always insulting her in many ways. Juvia scoffed at him and crossed her arms. "Maybe Juvia will let him kill Gajeel-kun seeing as Juvia can't remember the last time Gajeel-kun ever did anything nice for her. Laxus can run away free, Juvia doesn't mind that."

Gajeel was ready explode...Or faint, Juvia wasn't quite sure with what he was ready to do, but she knew that he was not at all happy with her answer. "Really? Who are you, the fucking shinigami listing off all the reasons why I should be heading straight to hell? _Fix your fucking mate!"_

Juvia sighed dramatically as though it was such a waste of effort. Laxus just stood there smirking. "Okay, okay. But know this Gajeel-kun, call Juvia a wench again and Juvia will give Levy a perfect reason to not want to be your mate. Family jewels _will _be lost."

Gajeel had to hold his tongue. He really wanted to say that both Juvia and Natsu were _perfect _for each other because they're both annoying as hell, but he knew that just like Natsu, Juvia would go through with her threats and let's just say that he really, _really _likes his family jewels. That and the fact that he also wants to please his little 'shrimp' in ways he knows she's never been pleased.

"Okay, _sorry_!"

Juvia nodded in approvement of what her 'brother' had just done. He was wise to say sorry. Now she had to deal with Natsu who had...gotten...free. He was looking at the two other dragon slayers with a look to kill them both. Juvia almost screamed. "Both of you get out of the room!"

Usually, they would not have been scared, but because mating season was nothing but pure dragon instincts, it was hard to overcome this sort of power. They didn't need to be told twice as Natsu launched himself over to the two men and they swore before dodging. His fire was raging in his hand as he blocked the door out of his room. He smirked, his canines extremely long. Juvia panicked. This was all her fault! She should have done something earlier!

"JUVIA, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

She rolled her eyes. Trust Gajeel to voice that out. Did he want to make the situation worse for himself? Well, the answer to that question would be _yes._

"**Don't you dare yell at Juvia!"**

Natsu punched the air in front of him in the direction where Gajeel was standing and a fireball then struck him in the stomach. Gajeel flew backwards, groaning before he was then out cold. Laxus was actually smart enough to stay out of the fight and he surrendered. Natsu's eyes were then on him.

"Hey Natsu, I wasn't going to do anything to Juvia, I swear. We were just helping her get to you! Come on man, we have our own mates! Think a little!" That seemed to get Natsu to come back to his senses as he then put his hand down and turned his eyes to Juvia. She flinched as he watched her. She turned her attention to Laxus.

"Get Gajeel-kun and leave Juvia with Natsu."

Laxus did that as he grabbed the huge and now unconscious iron dragon slayer and slung him over his shoulder before leaving the two mates together. Now wasn't a good time to tell Juvia that she most definitely had to have sex with Natsu on his 18th birthday because he was an elemental dragon slayer. In fact, the both of them being at Natsu's house was a bad idea. A dragon slayer doesn't go into another dragon slayer's house in the time of their first mating season.

Juvia bit her lip as she took a step closer to Natsu. It was weird. It was like he was a different person, kind of cold and calculating, as though he was trying to find ways to kill her without smiling. It sent shivers down her spine whenever he looked at her with those red eyes. _"Natsu looks like a vampire."_

"**Well sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm a dragon slayer."** He flashed her a wicked grin when she jumped. She was pretty sure she had said that in her head and not out loud. Maybe she had...

"So Juvia _is _Natsu's mate then."

He cocked his head to the side, still watching her. **"You knew you were my mate?" **He regarded her coolly as she nodded her head. He smirked once more, glad to know that she knew she was going to be his for a while now. **"That's good. So I guess I don't have to explain anything to you then."**

Juvia would have said that's because Gajeel already explained everything, but she was sure that if she even mentioned his name, that Natsu would make a barbeque out of him and laugh wildly as he did so. She snapped out of her thoughts when Natsu was leaning right down to her face as he looked at her with a smirk. She jumped as she stumbled backwards.

"What is Natsu doing?!"

"**Scaring you out of your thoughts clearly!"**

Okay, he was still the same. She thought he had changed, but now she saw that that was not the case. He just seemed to be more annoying, but looking devilishly handsome while being annoying and he smirked more, looking as though he was always going to get the upper hand in their arguments. She did not like that one bit. At the same time, it looked like he had also gained a bit more common sense and wasn't dense at most things.

"**Anyway, I think it's time to mark you, so pucker that neck up..."** She rolled her eyes at his stupidity. Since when can a freaking neck 'pucker up'? She was then grabbed by the waist as the distance between them was closed up and her face was on fire. His lips hovered about her neck and he was nuzzling her to find the perfect place to do so. She clamped her mouth shut so she didn't release a noise that would embarrass her.

"**Oh, **_**now **_**you want to be silent. Not gonna happen, I want to hear you."** His breath was so hot against her neck and Juvia was suddenly weakening. Her knees were turning to mush and her legs were ready to give way and she wanted to do nothing more than to tumble to the floor. She released a shaky breath and she gritted her teeth when she felt Natsu smirk against her skin. He knew the effect that he had on her and it was annoying that _Natsu _was the one to cause it, whether she liked him or not.

"Natsu should just get it over and done with already, what are you waiting for?" She wanted this torture to end because he had been dragging it out for too long now. He then lifted his head to look her in the eyes and she froze, all emotions swimming to the surface. His eyes were still like dancing flames, flicking from one colour to another, sometimes showing all three of them at once. His smirk was gone and he was frowning a little bit. Juvia was getting worried now.

"Natsu? Is Natsu okay? What's wrong?" She couldn't get her voice any louder than a whisper. She bit her lower lip as she stared at her 'mate.'

"**Nothing. I was just wondering..."** He didn't finish his sentence because he then leaned forward to kiss his mate. Juvia's eyes widened and as an instinct, she raised her hand up to his chest in order to push him away, only, he had anticipated this. He grabbed her wrist to stop her and then she remembered that they were supposed to be mates. After a while, her tense body relaxed as she reciprocated the kiss. Her eyes fluttered shut and her hand landed on his chest, holding him there.

They both pulled away, staring at each other for a while. He was grinning at her. **"I was just wondering what you tasted like."**

"Juvia would like to do that again," she said with a blush. She looked down, wondering why she had been so stupid to say that, but when Natsu tilted her head up, she saw that he was actually giving her a smile, not a smirk.

"**Natsu would like to do that too."** THEN he was smirking and Juvia glared at him. **"Turn that frown upside down."** Then he kissed her again, with more vigour than before. He pushed his tongue into her mouth and brought his hand round to the small of her back. He pushed her up against him and his other hand caressed her cheek. Pleasure was spreading throughout their body as their tongues moved against each other's so fiercely.

When they pulled apart again, they were both breathless as Natsu leaned his forehead against Juvia's. He then remembered something. **"Juvia, say it."**

She frowned, not moving from her position. She liked the way that Natsu had leaned his forehead against her own. She had never felt closer to a guy before. "What is Natsu talking about?" she replied so breathlessly. That kiss had literally taken her last breath away and it was taking some time to get it back.

"**Say that you're pretty**_**.**_**"**

"What brought this on?"

"**Remember back on our first job together? You said that you weren't **_**pretty **_**enough for the job to lure the Vulcans. But you were absolutely right. You're not pretty because you're **_**beautiful. **_**Now stop being so insecure and say it."**

He was looking at her yet again, looking at her with those eyes. Her eyes had widened when she heard that Natsu had just called her beautiful. She had never expected it, even if they were mates. She blushed suddenly feeling good.

"Juvia is beautiful."

"**What was that?! That was weak and weedy, say it again!"**

"Juvia is beautiful."

"**Say it like you fucking mean it!"**

"Juvia is beautiful!"

"**Own it!"**

"JUVIA IS BEAUTIFUL!" She yelled out making Natsu smirk and dive for her neck. His canines pierced her neck. Juvia gasped, not even ready for it and then she felt another wave of pleasure. It was as though he was sending fire throughout her body and it was settling in her core. That was when she pushed him away from her.

"WHAT THE HELL NATSU?!" She grabbed her neck as she held the mark and Natsu was on the floor, blinking up at her in surprise. No one had ever warned him that his mate would push him away. She was glaring down heavily at him and he stared up at her blankly.

"**Did you just push me?"**

"Why, was Natsu not expecting it from his _mate_?" she sneered at him.

He smirked at her before standing up and brushing himself down gently. She glared at him looking him in the eyes. She couldn't be serious when she was staring into such gorgeous eyes. She cursed herself into hell. **"Actually I was, seeing as it's you."**

Juvia rolled her eyes and moved around him to get to the door. He reached out and grabbed her wrist with an expression on his face that looked like he was in pain. He didn't want Juvia to leave him because when it was mating season, it hurt to be away from your mate. **"Where are you going?"**

"Juvia is leaving Natsu alone because he has something important to do." He tilted his head and Juvia couldn't help but note how cute and adorable he looked like that. He looked so innocent, but the eyes were ruining it for him.

"Natsu has a house to clean, or does Natsu not remember what Juvia said yesterday?" He blinked before giving her a sheepish look as he then opened his bedroom door to see that his house was actually messier than before. He winced when he realised that Juvia was most certainly not going to be helping him with this at _all. _

"**Okay, I guess I've had this coming then." **He released Juvia's hand before he hung his head and made his way out of his room to tidy up. Juvia had crossed her arms over her chest and watched him go, a glare on her pretty face. He looked so cute. He would constantly glance back at Juvia, the fire in his eyes trying to tell her that he was sorry. He looked like a puppy who had just been kicked. Then she started softening up. Then she rolled her eyes at herself and sighed in frustration at herself before walking over and behind him.

"Juvia will help." She looked down at the ground, angry that she gave in so easily. Natsu was already into front of her, grinning in happiness.

"**YES! Okay, let's do this."**

Juvia couldn't help but smile. Natsu was even more hyper and it was all because of HER, not anyone else! She kept on looking over at him as they were tidying the house and she would have never known that one day, Natsu would be the source of her joy. If you had told her this about a month ago, she would have laughed in your face before clinging onto Gray's arm. Now, here she was, helping her mate clean up his home.

"**Juvia, stop blushing at how dashingly sexy I am and help me tidy up!"**

Her blush increased as she had been so caught up in her thoughts she didn't even realise that she had been staring at him so openly. She noticed that he still had that wicked grin on his face and she knew that this was going to be a long week before his birthday.

"Sh-shutup! Juvia shouldn't even be _helping _Natsu, yet here she is, giving in!"

Natsu just smirked at her reply and she huffed as she turned her back on him and started clearing up her own share of the room. That was until she heard a wolf whistle and she turned around to see that Natsu was practically drooling at her arse. She jumped towards him and started hitting him.

"NATSU IS SUCH A PERVERT, HOW COULD YOU STARE SO OPENLY AT JUVIA'S BUM LIKE THAT?!"

Natsu just laughed heartily as he hugged the girl tightly to him. **"Because I can Juuuuvia!" **She hated his little sing song voice so much, but that was only because she loved it. She was so confused right now. She hated it because she loved it? That doesn't even make any sense!

"Let Juvia go," she mumbled as she laid her head on his chest, not really wanting him to let go of her. Natsu hummed as he knew that she didn't really want him to let her go.

"**Nope. I'll stay with you forever~"**

Juvia blushed. He was actually being serious. He was going to stay with her forever and that idea made her dizzy with happiness. She started hugging him back which made Natsu growl in happiness. He kissed her forehead and they stayed like that for a while. "How long does this mating season last Natsu?"

"**Up until we have sex which is on my birthday. It's a must for an elemental dragon like me."**

Juvia froze in his arms, fear settling in her gut. Laxus had _told _her that she doesn't need to have sex! Why did Natsu then say that they had to?! Oh wait, because he's an elemental dragon and by the way that Laxus was talking, he probably forget that. Juvia wasn't at all impressed by his mistake at all. It was something vital so how did he manage to miss that?!

Natsu felt her pause and could feel the fear rising within her. He held her tightly and brought his lips to her ear. **"Hey, it'll be okay. I'll be gentle." **Then he was laughing his head off again as Juvia was then hitting him because his thoughts and words were too perverted. He couldn't help but feel happy that he had found his mate.

"**Juvia, I'm glad you're my mate."**

Juvia stopped and blinked at him, waiting for him to do something else that would distract her attention from yet another warming moment. She stood there for a few seconds before giving him a soft smile, her cheeks turning rosey. He hadn't said anything to ruin the moment yet, but his eyes were literally burning into her as the fire in his eyes were more apparent. She bit her lip before looking up at him again.

"Juvia is glad too."

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So how was that chapter you guys?! I hope it was okay! So yes, I know that like the WHOLE chapter was based in Natsu's house, but it was fun right? I thought it was lol. Well now I can tell you about why Natsu's speech was in bold. Because he's obviously hitting the mate stage of life, his voice and eyes have changed. Imagine it more...feral if you wish. I dunno lol.

But yeah, happy birthday to Acey once more! The next chapter might be a little shorter than the usual ones but oh well, I don't mind it!

Please don't forget to rate or hate, flames or floods! Lolita-love everywhere you guys! I also seem kind of out of it, a lot of distractions right now lol. Washing machine, tv, listening to music. Everything is going haywire while I'm trying to right this A/N lol

Lolita-chan


	6. Chapter 6

Hey Dark Gothic Lolita here!

So guys, I've had a lot of positive feedback from a lot of you! I'm glad you all enjoy it! Yes, now I'm fully aware of the fact that I haven't updated in AGES, but that's because I wanted to try and do something a little different. I wanted to bring out THREE CHAPTERS AT ONCE! Yes yes, now we all know that that has never been possible with a girl like me, but TRUUUST me, I have cracked it!

So that means you will have chapter 6,7,8! I thought I was going to end with 8 chapters, but it would seem like I'm going up to 9 lol.

Okay, time to answer my guest reviews!

**Dark: **I don't think I can remember what I wrote in chapter 5 to actually think that Natsu was nasty...Probably because he went on that 'date' with Annie? I don't even know! But here you are, an update!

**Jacky: **I'm glad you found it awesome, awesome! Thank you!

**Love chan: **Thank you so much for the compliment! I'm glad you love it and don't worry, you don't have to hunt me down because I updated!

**Guest 1: **I guess that I'm updating now! Lol

**MacDaddyFreaash: **There are WAAAAY too many 'Lucy got kicked out' stories and they annoy me to no end! It's almost like people have no more originality! You know what makes me more annoyed about those stories? They say in the summary 'it's not your typical Lucy got kicked out story, honestly' when really it's even worse! Gosh lol. You could mash up the name to...Natear? That works! Lol. But I'm glad you're enjoying this pairing and thank you for your butt cheeks giving me a standing ovation! Oh and I TOTALLY pulled the elemental dragon stuff out of my arse lol. It was such a last minute thing ergh :p

**Lady Enigma: **I know! I really need to update that stuff huh? But don't worry, here I am with 3 new chapters!

That's it! I've spread my guest love to you all! I don't own Fairy Tail or any of their characters (unfortunately) and I also apologize for crappy grammar and spelling!

ENJOY!

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**The pairing project **

**Chapter six**

When Natsu next saw Juvia, he couldn't help but gape at what she was wearing. It wasn't her usual attire AT ALL! Was she trying to tease him purposely? He didn't know, but he wanted to know. He never really pegged her as the type to tease, but then thinking back on how her imagination used to run wild about Gray, he was certain that she should be very kinky. He then growled at the thought of her liking Gray.

"_What if she still loves him? Nah."_

He let his eyes trail over her body. Instead of her typical Russian type of dress, she wore a simple blue tank top and a short skater skirt, showing off her long legs. Her hair was done up in a simple ponytail. He grinned. He remembered yesterday when the both of them were trying to get house clean and tidy again. They had both been mucking about and having little fights when they were supposed to be cleaning up. He had learnt how strong she was, even if they were just playing around.

He walked up to her and placed his hands on her hips as she was reading a magazine. She jumped before she relaxed, obviously knowing fully well that it was Natsu otherwise they were going to be fried if it wasn't. He slid into the seat next to her, grinning at her while she blushed and looked around to see if anyone was looking at them.

"**What's got you so jumpy?"**

"Well sorry if Juvia isn't used to having Natsu jump up behind her and touch her waist! Juvia is very ticklish!" He gave her a wicked smirk as he looked at her waist.

"**You mean right here?" **He poked her side and she squirmed when he did that and his grin widened. He did it again continuously as she doubled up laughing and trying to get away from him touch.

"S-stop it!"

She then fell into his chest as he stopped and she calmed down, getting her breath back. She looked up at him and he looked down at her, the fire still in his eyes. Just as they were about to lean in and let their lips make contact with each other, Happy flew into them.

"You liiiiiike each other!" Juvia blushed as the exceed was laughing at them and Natsu shrugged his shoulders, hitting the cat on his head. Happy started moaning. "What was that for Natsu?" He held his head and Juvia hugged him and stroked his now injured head. The cat stuck his tongue out at him, showing him that he should be jealous that he was in his mate's arms.

"**You're cockblocking me right now you idiot cat! Go try your luck with Carla or something." **Natsu grinned when he mentioned Carla's name and Happy froze before looking at him in anger.

"You have no right to say her beautiful name!"

"**Then why are you still here in the way of my mate and I?"**

Happy started grumbling as he left the comfort of Juvia's arms to go and pursue Carla once more all in the name of love. Juvia frowned at Natsu and he flinched when he saw her doing so. **"What?! I was just trying to push the little guy into a relationship!" **Juvia wasn't buying it as she then crossed her arms over her chest instead. **"But it's the truth!"**

Juvia's glare hardened. **"Okay, I'm sorry, I was jealous! I wanted to be the one to hug you!" **Juvia beamed when she got the truth out of him and she then smirked.

"Aww Natsu's jealous of Happy. Juvia wonders how Natsu would react if Juvia was to talk to Gray."

A deep growl rumbled deep within his throat and his arms encircled around Juvia, pulling her close to him as he brought his lips closer to her ear. She could feel his breath scorching her skin and his warmth radiated on her, causing her to try and focus on her breathing and she closed her eyes. She was so close to sweating bullets as she could feel a blush gently crawl its way up her neck and to her face. She couldn't believe that they were this close in _public._

"**You're **_**mine,**_** and mine **_**only**_**. I wouldn't be happy if I found out you still liked Gray."**

This possessive side of him was making her feel extremely weak and she could do nothing more than to nod her head weakly while the fire burned even stronger within his eyes. He was actually being serious, looking as though he was ready to murder Gray, when he most probably wasn't even here.

"Natsu? Calm down okay? Juvia was just kidding, Juvia doesn't like Gray like that anymore. Juvia likes Natsu. Also, Juvia doesn't want Natsu getting in trouble for killing another nakama. Juvia knows that it's only the mating season doing this, but please. For Juvia, try and have more self control, okay?"

He sighed and nodded his head, nuzzling his head into her neck, making her giggle at him. She was surprised that they hadn't caught anyone else's attention yet. They must have all been too engrossed in what they were doing to realise that there was a new couple in the guild that they should all be gasping and fawning over.

"Does Natsu want to go on a job?"

"**Nah, I got a better idea. **_**Trust **_**me, you'll love it."**

~x~

"AHHHHHHHH!"

"**HAHAHAHAHAHA!"**

Juvia clung onto Natsu as they were going up and down, upside down and riding around sideways on the newest roller coaster. Juvia was NOT at all happy when Natsu had decided to buy the fast track tickets so that they wouldn't have to wait in the long queue. Juvia had loved his idea at first, but now, she was beginning to think that this was the worst idea he could ever come up with.

Finally, the dreaded ride was over and Natsu was laughing as Juvia held her stomach, groaning as though she were about to vomit. "Is this Natsu's idea of a date? This is torture."

"**Weeeell, I was going to have some dinner, but then I remembered that I wasted all your money last time seeing as you paid for me. This time, I'm paying for us to spend a day here! Fun right?"**

Other than the ride, yes, Juvia was having fun, but she also wanted to see if she could milk this act to him, see what he might do. Would he wait hand and foot for her? Or was he going to be his douchebag mating self? Probably the latter.

"Whatever, Juvia is going to go to the toilet. Go and get Juvia a cup of water from over there, okay?"

He saluted to her as she walked off. Again, his eyes watched her hips as they swayed and he let out a long whistle to himself. His birthday getting closer and closer was suddenly looking better as he knew that Juvia was all his.

"**Hey, can I get two cups of water please?"**

The man at the counter gave him a weird look and Natsu knew that it was most probably his eyes and his extremely deep voice. Still, the man went to go and get it because hey, it's none of his business and the guy is paying for it.

Natsu then had this sudden feeling prodding his back, like someone was _watching _him. He didn't want to turn around, but eventually he had to. His name got called by someone.

"Natsu?! Oh my gosh, it's YOU!" He remembered that voice, but he kind of forgot _where _he heard it. Before he could even turn around to see what girl was calling him, he was glomped by a girl that was most definitely not Juvia. Now he remembered it. The weight and the hard pulling. It was that girl from the train...Zara? Yeah, that was probably her name.

"Oh, my GOSH! What happened to your eyes? They look soooo cool now, they match your fire magic!" She started yanking on his arm as she started jumping up and down pulling his arm as well. Natsu sighed as he was slowly but surely growing annoyed with her.

"**Hey, can you stop pulling on my arm, it's kind of annoying."**

She stopped and gasped in shock. "Your...your VOICE! It's so deep and so masculine! Oh my gosh, it sounds sooo hot!" She squealed in delight, completely ignoring what he had just asked of her and started pulling on his arm once more. "I was sooo right to want to come and get you back! I don't even care that you eat like a total pig! I was wondering if you want to go on another date?"

The man came back with two glasses of water and Annie squealed. "You knew I was coming! And you knew that I wanted water! Aww, that's so sweet of you!" She took a glass and just as Natsu was about to tell her it wasn't for her, she gulped it all down, savouring how cold it was. Natsu gulped harshly. _"Juvia is going to kill me. If she was so jealous before and we weren't dating, what is she going to do now?"_

"Annie."

Oh shit, here she was.

Annie turned around to see that Juvia was standing there and she frowned deeply, still holding onto Natsu's arm like she owned the damn thing and that she wasn't going to let go of him. "Oh, it's just you. What do you want? Why are you even here?"

Juvia laughed a little bit and Natsu was praying to kami that she didn't hurt a civilian. "That's Juvia's line. What is Annie doing here?"

"Well I wanted a water which Natsu seemed to have ordered in advance for me and when I saw Natsu here already, I just told him that I would like to make us official ever since we had our first date. It's like we're made for each other."

Juvia bit her lip in order to stop herself from laughing out in her face. How deluded was this girl? Her eyes started gleaming as she looked at Natsu, trying to make him laugh. He clamped his lips down together as he was staring at her right in the eyes. He almost snorted which in turn almost made Juvia splutter as she disguised it as a cough. They were playing a silent game of who could make the other one laugh out loud first.

Juvia quickly composed herself before looking back down at Annie. She gave her a fake sweet smile. "Annie, Juvia thinks that you've misunderstood the whole situation here. Annie may think that Natsu ordered her a drink of water, but it was actually for Juvia. Annie may think that Natsu wants to go on a date with her, when in reality, Annie is interrupting Juvia's date with Natsu."

The girl shifted as she still clung to Natsu's arm tightly. "Ha, ha, ha. Very funny. I bet you're just really jealous that I'm more attractive than you'll ever be."

Juvia faltered as she then wanted to wrap her arms around herself as was suddenly insecure. Annie was right. Annie was actually probably the definition of beauty that she could probably give Lucy a run for her money and Juvia knew fully well that many people fell in love with Lucy wherever she went. Who loved Juvia? No one, that's why she was such a loner when she was younger.

Natsu then shrugged Annie off of his arm eventually and walked towards Juvia and put his arms around her waist. She blushed as Annie's face looked like thunder. **"I don't like you being rude to my mate. Now apologize."**

Annie didn't want to and she looked so reluctant to do so. "I will when you prove that you're both dating." Natsu smirked, finding this as the perfect opportunity to kiss Juvia in public.

"**Nooo problem."**

He placed his hand under Juvia's chin and smirked at her as he raised her head and her eyes fell on his. The fire in his eyes were swimming with emotions as he stared at her. Annie stood at the side, so sure that they weren't going to do anything. They were probably bluffing anyway, they wouldn't really kiss, right? That was until she saw Juvia's hand reach out to run her hand through Natsu's hair and slowly and gently, their lips met. They were kissing right in front of her!

Sadly, Annie couldn't say that they were a horrible couple because honestly, they were pretty cute together. She couldn't help but coo at them which made them pull apart to look at her weirdly. "Oh, I'm sorry! It's just that you guys look so cute together! Okay, I believe you! I'll leave you guys alone. I'm sorry I drank your water! Have fun with your date you guys!"

They both watched her as she started skipping away from them and they looked at each other before laughing. Natsu handed her his water. **"Here, have my water. Then we need to go on another ride." **His eyes flashed at her and she shivered, not wanting to know what ride he had in mind for the both of them.

* * *

Natsu was giving Juvia a piggy back as they made their way to Fairy Hills. The whole day had been so perfect and Juvia hadn't wanted for it to end. In her dreams and fantasies, she had always imagined for her first date to be with Gray and for them to go out on a dinner together before going to a cliff to look at the stars and have a quiet romantic time where he would tell her that he loved her and all about his past.

But no. The date that Natsu had taken her on had far exceeded her expectations and it was way better than any imaginary date. The date had seemed more realistic in her eyes and nothing was forced, nothing was awkward where they would just be silent. Before, Juvia would have thought that Natsu brought out the worst in her, when in reality, he brought out the fun in her. She was so happy that nature had already preplanned her destiny and made her as Natsu's mate.

"Juvia wants Natsu to know that she's happy that she is Natsu's mate."

"**I know, you said it before. I'm glad you're my mate too."**

There was a comfortable silence as Natsu was just walking. Her scent filled Natsu's nose up as he breathed in deeply and let out a comfortable sigh. "Natsu?" He grunted to show that he was listening. "When are we going to tell the guild? Juvia knows that the guild most probably expects for Natsu's mate to be Lucy and Juvia is pretty sure that Lucy loves Natsu-"

"**Lucy loves me? Hahaha, where did that one come from?"**

"It's so obvious, but of course only you wouldn't be able to see it. Natsu is so dense."

"**She can be in love with me all she wants, all I know is that I have you." **He turned his head to look at her and he grinned and Juvia hugged him tighter, a blush caressing her cheeks. She had been quite scared that maybe he might focus his attention on the blond and would leave her. They were like the best of friends, it would have be totally understandable if along the way, Natsu had fallen in love with Lucy. Well, he better not leave her because she swore that now she was in too far with this relationship, there was no way she was going to let him go.

"**We're here now."**

Juvia groaned as she then got down. Natsu wasn't allowed into the building because it was girls only and while no other girl actually cared if a guy went in, Laki and Erza were the only ones who did and they would torture that guy to teach him a lesson never come back into the female building. Erza and Laki actually made a very strong pair, it was so scary.

"Juvia will see Natsu tomorrow then." She pecked his cheek and for some strange reason, it made Natsu blush. Juvia giggled when she noticed it and she hugged him tightly as though she was so reluctant in letting him go. She just wanted to stay in his arms forever and a day, not letting anyone else get near him. It was strange. She wasn't so over possessive about him like she was about Gray. Probably because she knows that Natsu is hers and she's Natsu's so there was no way he would be interested in anyone else. Either way, for Natsu to fall in love with someone in the first place is pretty incredible. The guy was a bit clueless about such things.

"**Goodnight, Juvia." **

She shivered at the way he said her name. Because he was going through the mating process, his voice was already deep in the first place. Now, she could have sworn that he was making it sound husky just to tease her. She could barely make it up to her apartment, and when she finally got there, she couldn't help but collapse on her bed and she was breathing heavily. He had knocked the breath right out of her and her heart was racing. Just by him saying 'goodnight' was already setting her off!

She smiled to herself, her head planning things that Natsu would never get to know of. At least not now.

* * *

Natsu was frowning deeply, the fire in his eyes being red and never orange and yellow anymore. Because of his promise to Juvia, his body was having the biggest fight of its life as he was debating whether to go against her wishes of killing a fellow nakama, or not to. For the past two days, Juvia hadn't even acknowledged his existence. Every time he would try and hug her, she would just shrug him off and glare at him, giving him the biggest cold shoulder. He actually had no idea what had brought this on.

Now here she was, talking to _Gray_. He knew it. He fucking knew it! She was still holding some feeling for that arsehole of a stripper and now that her attention was divided from the exhibitionist, he probably wanted Juvia because he was jealous as to how well Natsu was working with her! _"Smart move Gray, smart move. But it might just cost you your life."_

He wanted to just walk over there and rip her away from his grip and kiss the life out of her lips in front of everyone, but he had already told her to keep it as a surprise. Now he wasn't so sure about the whole thing. Because he hadn't mated with her properly, he wasn't able to read her thoughts.

"_Well fuck her then! I don't need her!" _

Natsu mulled over that thought before shaking his head in anger. _"Nope, I do need to fuck her to get rid of this impulsive feeling for now. Well, until next year."_

Natsu groaned as Happy then came flying towards him. "Oh, well it's nice to see you too." The cat huffed and was prepared to leave him alone until Natsu reached out for him, stopping the exceed. He gave him a sheepish smile.

"**I wasn't groaning at you, just at Juvia's behaviour. Do you know why she's acting like that?"**

Of course Happy knew, but it wasn't his place to say anything. That was strictly between him and his mate and when Juvia was ready to tell him why she has been ignoring him, then that was completely up to her, not the cat.

"I don't know, I've been with Carla the whole time."

While it was true, it wasn't entirely true, but Natsu didn't need to know that at all. Natsu just growled before heading to the board. **"Let's go on a fucking job without her and we can go fucking fishing afterwards, like we do every time it's my birthday." **

This year, he wasn't at all bothered in trying to find Igneel on his birthday because he knew he would never get to find him until he shows his face again. The dragons had reassured him that Igneel was okay, but they were in hiding. He didn't need to look for him anymore because he knew the reason no. Happy's attention had been captured by the word 'fish' and his eyes had widened significantly as his imagination began to get the best of him. It had been a long time since they had gone fishing together and it was nice to finally be able to do it again, just the two of them.

Juvia had watched the two of them leave and while she was upset that she had to act like a total bitch to him, she knew it was for the best. If he knew what she was planning, everything would be ruined and that would just be wasted effort. "Okay guys, Natsu is gone! Let's begin with the decorations! Gajeel-kun, stop your useless frowning. Gajeel-kun was the one who decided to leave for his birthday, so suck it up and help out with Natsu's party!

Some people had the helium as they pumped up the balloons, others were putting up banners and streamers and whatever made a good party hall. Juvia had also made sure that Erza was in charge of the cake. "Erza should get Natsu's favourite cake and not strawberry short cake, okay?"

"What are you talking about Juvia, that's his favourite, didn't he tell you?"

Let's just say that as soon as Juvia turned around to glare at Erza, the redhead had been out of the guild so fast to go and change the order that she had given to the baker in order to save her behind from the scary water mage. She wanted Natsu's 18th birthday to be fantastic and nothing should be going wrong. The only thing that would go wrong is if Natsu had taken Juvia's acting too serious and decided to not come back until after his birthday.

"Juvia thanks Mira-san for helping Juvia with planning Natsu's birthday party."

The woman smiled as she wiped down the bar. "It's okay. I've never seen anyone go to such lengths for someone's birthday. You must really like him now." She watched as Juvia turned her head, but she couldn't hide the fact that her neck was the same colour as Natsu's now red eyes.

"Mira-san could say that...It's just weird. Juvia thought that she would love Gray till the end of time, even if he does reject Juvia. Juvia was just never expecting to enjoy Natsu's company, talk less of being his mate and enjoying herself."

"Did she tell you of her date onee-chan?" Lisanna jumped into the seat next to Juvia and she laughed when Juvia had aimed a punch at her arm. Mira's eyes started sparkling before it then turned to a dark smile, her aura changed. Lisanna couldn't help but laugh at it and Juvia was scared that she had just changed her mood. What had she done wrong now?

"So you went on a date. Not only did you fail to inform me of it, you failed to tell me how it went. I deserve an explanation and I want everything in detail, right now."

Juvia panicked before saying one thing that she would have never thought of saying in all of her life.

"Aye sir!"

Juvia explained in full detail, starting from how they were tidying up his house together, how frustrating he had been and how sweet he had been too. Then what they did for their date and what had happened with Annie and what happened afterwards.

"Then Natsu piggybacked Juvia all the way to Fairy Hills. He can be sweet when he wants to, but because of the whole mating season, Natsu can be kind of a douche too." Mira hummed in agreement, thinking about Laxus. He was more perverted and he smirked a whole lot more when he was in his dragon mating mode.

Lisanna pouted. "I want a dragon slayer now. Maybe falling in love with Bickslow was a bad idea." Then it looked like she was contemplating it before she giggled and shook her head. "Nope, I actually like who I've got." She winked at her friend and her sister while Juvia sighed and thought about Natsu. He had been really angry and she could feel his anger roll off in heatwaves as they were aimed at her back. She really really hoped that he would understand or better yet, show up.

* * *

So that is the end of that chapter! How did ya like that huh? After waiting for so long, I bet a good majority of you have forgotten the rest of the story lol. Red up if you need to! Don't forget though, THREE CHAPTERS!

Please don't forget to rate or hate, flames or floods! Send your reviews and Lolita sends her love!

Lolita-love


	7. Chapter 7

Hey Dark Gothic Lolita here!

So you guys, as I said in chapter 6, I am bringing out 3 chapters and this is 2/3 done! I know that none of you will have time to review so I don't really mind lol.

**WARNING THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS BITTERSWEET TASTING LEMON AND IF YOU FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE (which honestly, on fanfiction, no one ever does) THEN PLEASE DO NOT READ AFTER THE PARTY SCENE! **Just saying :P

Honestly, I had to write this out well which is why I was stalling the whole thing. I had already written up chapter 8 because I knew how I wanted it to flow. Oh well, we all have problems with our writing lol.

So yeah, I don't own Fairy Tail or any of their characters and I apologize deeply for any useless spelling and grammar mistakes! Trust me, I type too fast and then I'm lazy to edit (much like I did with this chapter actually)

ENJOY!

* * *

**The pairing project**

**Chapter seven**

Natsu had calmed down considerably and now that today was his birthday, he could either go to Juvia and find out what the hell is going on, or he could ignore her and bear that pain that it will come with for ignoring his mate. He just didn't understand it. Had she changed her mind last minute or something? Had Annie's words gotten to her? He didn't even know, but there was one thing that he knew and that was that girls were WEIRD. They were hella weird.

He had told Happy that he could head out straight to the guild because he needed to shower. He had landed in some mud on the way back after falling into a ditch, while Happy just gracefully flew over it, annoying the dragon slayer to no end. He should have smelt it ahead, but because his mind was so preoccupied by Juvia's weird behaviour, he hadn't even realised it.

Now it was time for him to go and celebrate his birthday like he did every year. A little bit of fishing. He frowned as he realised that he had just sent Happy to the guild without doing their little outing. He groaned, meaning that he would have to walk over there and go get his companion before coming ALL the way back the lake by their house.

When he got closer to the guild, he could smell that everyone was there, but there was one scent that he could smell overall. It was _her _scent. _Her _ocean breeze scent filled the whole guild. _Her _scent was the only thing _he_ wanted. _She _was in there waiting for _him_. Well hopefully _she _was. All his previous anger had diminished completely and he burst into the guild.

"HELLO-!"

"HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY NATSU!"

Natsu almost choked on the air as he stared about the place in utter amazement. There were flame flowers and loads and LOADS of pyro with sprinklers. They were done safely so that it didn't set the guild alight. His favourite flavoured cake was standing on the bar and there was lots and LOTS of food. It was basically a buffet party full of fire.

He stared, still amazed as he looked at everyone's face individually. They were all grinning at him, almost as though they were waiting for him to say something, but he couldn't. He had never actually had a birthday party before, even though he had been in the guild for many years now. It was usually because he hated spending it with anyone that wasn't Lisanna or Happy. That was because he was usually looking for Igneel.

Then his eyes fell on one certain girl's face. She stood in front of the whole guild, her hands clasped together in front of her, her eyes shining. He stared at her as her eyes slowly fell to the ground and she bit her lip. Was he mad at her? She forced herself to look up and when she did, she just about had enough time to register the fact that she was in Natsu's arms.

"**You did this for me?"**

"Of course Juvia did this for Natsu, who else would this be for?" The way he held her, it was like a husband hugging his wife after spending so many years at war. She had never felt so warm or invited in all of her life. She felt so amazing. The whole guild faded away to nothing as it was just the two of them. Natsu hugged her tightly, not wanting to let her go and he buried his face in her neck. She could feel him quiver before there was something wet on her neck.

"**Thank you. Thank you so much for this."**

It was a simple thanks that went a long way and Juvia couldn't but shed a few tears in return. "It's okay Natsu-kun." She bit her lip. She always thought that she had it hard, but she was lucky that at the orphanage, she at least got a birthday cake and some recognition on her birthday. Natsu had gone so long without one that it must be nice to have a party for once.

Without even thinking about it, Natsu leaned up to capture her lips. This wasn't lust filled, but this was so sweet and passionate, like they didn't want to lose each other. Their tears ran down their faces as it mingled in with the taste, making it salty. It was their special moment as they forgot about everyone else in the guild.

The whole place went quiet until they both pulled away for air, grinning at each other.

"WHAT THE FUUUUCK?!"

The couple jumped as they turned their heads to look at who the hell had just surprised them. Juvia turned red when she saw Macao pointing at them, his eyes almost bulging out of his head. He wasn't the only one though. The rest of the guild stared at them in nothing but pure surprise as they couldn't believe what the hell they had just witnessed. Many people started looking at Lucy or Lisanna, then back to Juvia and Natsu, but everyone was too shocked to say anything.

Natsu didn't find it embarrassing in the slightest and he just held Juvia's waist closer to him and possessively. He gave them a feral smirk, the orange and yellow coming back into his eyes along with the red to show that he was no longer angry.

"**That's right, Juvia Lockser is my mate. If you don't want to end up dead, you'll never try anything on her."**

Juvia bit her lip in order to stop herself from grinning or from the little moan that may or may not have erupted from her lips. She was safe in his arms as she looked out to everyone else, starring in all their eyes. She could see that secretly, everyone had wanted for him to get with Lucy or Lisanna, but slowly, it looked like they were warming up to the idea of them both. She smiled as everyone was still glued in place, their face in one way.

Lisanna and Mira started grinning as they then turned up the music and Gajeel and Laxus banged on the steel drums that came out of nowhere.

"You guys just gonna stand there, or are you going to PARTY?!"

Juvia sweatdropped at them. They had pitched the idea of having steel drums at the party but she had said no because it was so random. Why did she think that they would even listen to her?

Then everyone started moving again, wishing Natsu a happy birthday and congratulations on getting his mate. Natsu grinned the whole night, Juvia in his arms. He had never been more happy in his life and Juvia was so glad that she was apart of it. Every now and then, Natsu would rest his chin on her shoulder and whisper sweet nothings and thank yous into her ear before nuzzling her neck and planting a kiss on her cheek.

They had given him a flaming crown made from Levy's solid script magic. It looked so royal and majestic that it looked like it belonged to a real Fire King. He kept on eating the pyro that was put next to him as well as partaking in the buffet too.

"Hey Juvia, this is for you!"

They both turned around and Levy wore a smirk on her face as she gave Juvia a water tiara with fire woven into it as the taller blue head blushed and took it from her, secretly promising that she'll get her own back on the bookworm.

Everyone kept on shoving their presents into his face and he opened every single one of them up, thanking everyone and stuffing his face with loads of chicken. At one point, they had also brought up a pinata for him with flaming sweets (candy) that Juvia had made herself. The night was going so well. Sabertooth were invited, Mermaid Heel were invited and so was Lamia Scale, in which Lyon burst into tears when he saw Juvia sitting on Natsu's lap. He started wailing saying that he should have kept an eye out on Natsu and not Gray.

"Hey Natsu, it's time for you to make a speech!" Master was watching the fire dragon slayer with tears in his eyes. The boy was growing up, learning to let things go and to also grow and stand up for himself, though he knew that Natsu wouldn't change. He may be a legal adult, (**A/N: **you are and adult in the UK when you turn 18) it was going to take a while for the boy to stop burning things down and destroying parts of towns. He had received paperwork from the town that he had just done his latest job in and it almost made the poor old man cry. He decided to ignore it for now because it was his birthday. That meant that tomorrow, he was going to be on his case to pay the damages.

Natsu stood up in front of everyone as they watched him with shiny eyes. It was the first time they had ever been able to hold a party for him and they were happy that they had been able to do so. After all, he had done so much for the guild that they felt that this was their way of paying him back for it.

"**Well I actually didn't even know that I was supposed to give a speech, but here I am, giving one. I wanna thank everyone for making it here, to have the best and hottest party." **He chuckled when he saw that loads of people were practically wearing clothes that you took to the beach because all the fire was so damn hot. Luckily, Juvia had thought things through and made pools in every corner of the place, making Gray fill the whole thing with ice whenever it melted.

"**I'm basically an adult you guys! I ain't a kid anymore and that's made me realise that I don't even really need Igneel anymore, even though I would like to see my dad one more time for a proper goodbye. I've had fun at Fairy Tail. This place is amazing and I thank you for putting up with my shit that you've all had to go through. Don't worry old man, I'll pay for the damages I made on my last job." **He gave the old man a cheeky wink and Makarov wanted to throttle him for being so disrespectful.

"**This pairing project is actually coming to an end guys. This is the last week before we can officially stop hanging out with our partner. At first, if this was at the beginning of the month, I would have been the sort to not wanna do it. I would have wished to get Luce and not change our team. Then I got partnered with Juvia." **He heard someone scoff and knew it was Lyon. Natsu in return sent a menacing growl in his direction before continuing.

"**As I was saying. Then I got partnered with Juvia. It was like a cat and a dog." **Happy shivered. **"We weren't going to be the best team and I knew that. Opposite magic, we're sure to fight. But then I got to know her and she was then my mate and I have never been more happy. I like it when I make her annoyed, frustrated, flustered or happy. Also, because she's not following Gray like a lost puppy, I realised that she's pretty cool."**

Everyone started laughing and Juvia hid her face in her hands and Natsu just looked over her quickly. **"All in all, what I'm trying to say is that I love Fairy Tail, all the friends that I've made outside of the guild and I love you, Juvia." **

Juvia's head sprang up so fast that she was surprised that it didn't snap. She stood there, watching him through her cerulean eyes as everyone bumped their way past her to cheer for Natsu and to high five him and whatever. She was watching him as he laughed with everyone else, her eyes in pure shock and her mouth was open slightly. He didn't just say that, did he? Did he really mean it? Well of course he did!

She loved him too! For once, it felt so good for the guy to be the first one to say it instead of Juvia having to force herself upon the guy! Now she just had to wait for everyone else to be done with what they were saying before she went up to him. As if by magic, they all parted and went on talking and having fun before Juvia made her way over to him. He smirked at her and opened wide his arms for her. She jumped into them in an instance, hugging him so damn tightly.

"Juvia couldn't believe that Natsu-kun had actually done such a thing for her! Was Natsu-kun being serious? Does he really love Juvia?"

"**That has got to be the stupidest question you could ever ask me Juvia. I said I did, didn't I?"**

She nodded her head, unable to stop the tears of joy that fell down her face.

"Happy birthday, Natsu-kun."

~x~

Natsu's party was amazing. It had lasted so long and by the end of it, many people had passed out all over the tables, in the freezing pools and by the pinatas. It was most probably the wildest parties that anyone had ever seen before. After seeing Natsu with Juvia, many people had also tried to start their own relationships. They were both an inspiration to the whole dating world, showing that anyone could match up with anyone.

"Did Natsu-kun enjoy his birthday?"

Natsu didn't say anything as he showed his feelings instead. He was a man who believed in the saying 'actions speak louder than words' and right now, he was using his actions. They were now in his house because it was closer. That and Juvia knew what they had to do on the night of his 18th. He pulled away before looking deeply into her eyes and he sighed.

"**Juvia, we don't have to if you're so uncomfortable."**

She shook her head, wrapping her arms around her neck. "No, Juvia wants to. Juvia doesn't want Natsu to go all crazy on her." He didn't even waste any time as he lifted her off the floor and kissed her deeply. She wrapped her legs around his torso. Without even breaking the kiss, they made it all the way to his room before collapsing on the bed. She wanted to do this. Not just because they had to for Natsu's sake, but because she was ready to give Natsu all of her, even if it was a bit early in terms of their relationship.

That and she wanted to know what it was like. Her imagination was curious.

His lips left hers finally before he gave her one last peck on her lips before trailing nothing but sweet butterfly kisses down her jaw. She started giggling a little bit which made Natsu chuckle as well. She had said that she was ticklish and it was playing up now too. It made her hold him even tighter to her. His hands started running up and down her sides slowly until he found the bottom of her dress. He was debating whether to pull it off her head when he had the perfect opportunity.

_RIP!_

He heard a gasp and he knew what was coming. Juvia's arms over her chest in order to cover herself up from his eyes and Natsu barked out a laugh. **"And you're covering yourself because?" **She huffed at him. Even though he was going to be her first, he was not making her feel better about doing this in _any _way! Natsu seemed to have read her mind and he kissed the corner of her mouth. **"Have you forgotten? This is my first time too, we can just roll with it."**

That washed out every bit of doubt within her as she lowered her arms slowly. Natsu's eyes watched her and her eyes stayed glued on his. He pushed her back as he ran his hand through her her hair. **"You're so beautiful, and I don't want you to forget that okay?" **Juvia nodded, as though she were in a trance as she stared into his eyes. Then she was laughing as Natsu prodded her left breast. She was still ticklish from that too.

"What the hell Natsu-kun?"

"**Just testing it out. Am I allowed to put my mouth on this? I always hear Macao and Wakaba talking about the things they're going to do to hot women." **Juvia's face went up in flames as she was so embarrassed to hear what old men had to say about what they were going to do to women they could never get because they were so out of their league. Juvia could only go by what was said in Erza's books that she borrowed.

"Yes, go on then."

Without even waiting for anything else, Natsu latched his mouth to her chest and the blush on her face rose to what lava looks like. She clamped her lips shut. Natsu sighed. **"I don't care if you make any noise Juvia. We're in a forest, who the hell is going to hear us? Let's be realistic." **Then he paused and smirked. **"Okay, I lied. I'm pretty sure that if the old hag strained her ears, Porlyusica will be the only one to hear us."**

Juvia blushed and rolled her eyes. The last thing she wanted was for that human loathing woman to burst in on them while Natsu was popping her cherry. That was be so mortifying. **"Hey, I've always wanted to do this!" **Juvia blinked and before she knew it, Natsu had motorboated her.

"KYA!"

"**THAT'S THE SPIRIT!"**

Natsu laughed at his own joke and Juvia slapped his arm. "NATSU-KUN! This isn't easy for Juvia, stop cracking jokes like we do this every night!"

"**That can be arranged...Okay, that was the last one, I promise." **

She sighed and Natsu kissed her cheek again. **"Okay, let's start again, like that didn't happen okay?" **She nodded her head, glad that he was finally taking this seriously. This was a big deal for a girl like her. She had always thought that she would at least get married before this step happened, but whatever. At least it was with someone who was definitely going to be with her always.

He kissed her yet again, their tongues working with so much tongue action. They were both getting hotter now and they pressed their bodies closer as though that would help solve the problem when they knew it was obviously going to make it worse. She tasted so sweet, of all the things that she had at the party, a party that had been set up for him by her. He will never forget that.

When they pulled away, he grinned. **"Someone's excited!"**

Juvia blushed, knowing fully well that he could smell her arousal. "Whatever. So is someone else." They both looked down to see that Natsu's member was now prodding her leg. She pouted when she remembered something. "Oh yeah, and why is Juvia the only one in her underwear? Natsu has too many clothes on!"

As soon as she said that, his clothes met the same fate that her dress did and was now on the floor, somewhere alongside the bed, but they didn't care where. Especially not now. Juvia stared at his chest, a chest she had seen many times but never really paid attention to. She had always looked at Gray's, but now Natsu's was this close to her, she could very well say that Natsu's was better. She ran her hands down his abs and a deep growl rumbled from deep within.

Her hand slowly slipped into down and she grabbed his shaft which made his eyes almost pop out of his head. He hadn't really known that Juvia was going to do that and he let a simple groan pass by his lips. Juvia gave him a worried look, but still held on. "Is this okay?"

"**Yeah, yeah it's good, GOOD!"**

She giggled before running her hand up and down it, finding that she really liked Natsu's reaction towards her hand movements. It sounded like he was trying his best to control his breathing, but that wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to get him back at his little jokes that he kept on pulling on her. She had read in one of Erza's books that you had to put your mouth on it? Ew! Isn't that where guys peed from?! Well...Natsu did seem to take a long time in the toilet before they left...NO WAY WAS HE CLEANING THIS THINGIE JUST FOR TONIGHT ESPECIALLY!

She blushed and before long, she found herself leaning forward. Natsu's eyes were closed so when he felt something else around his 'Natsu jr,' his eyes were nearly out of his head once more, enjoying the feel of her mouth even more.

Juvia hadn't actually anticipated how big Natsu was going to be, so she had to improvise for the rest of the way that she couldn't really get to. That was easy. All she had to do was use pressurized water to start pumping him. Turns out that it was driving him insane as she could hear nothing but colourful words pour out of his mouth. She knew she was doing something right at the very least which was a good sign.

Natsu was wondering how she was so good. Had she done this before? His possessive side was starting to through as his mind was trying to think of how she got so good. Then he relaxed a little bit. Well as much as he could with a girl sucking him off anyway. This was Juvia he was thinking about! She was devoted to anyone and she didn't seem like the sort of person to do this before marriage...

Natsu then accidentally gripped her hair when he felt something pounding against him. Juvia was surprised as she went down the full way. "I'm gonna blow Juvia!"

As soon as he said that, it was like a bomb went off in her mouth. It blew her away and she was so sure that she wasn't going to get that all in her mouth. Now the question was, does she spit or swallow? She hadn't gotten this far when she was reading Erza's book because it had been so blush worthy that she was too embarrassed to read anymore before she gave the book back.

It was bittersweet as she tried her best to swallow. Natsu's was panting hard as he looked at Juvia. Her hair was getting a bit wet from the sweat that she had accumulated and she was wearing his seed on her. He grinned, his energy coming back and there was life in his southern region once more.

"**Come here."**

He rolled her under his body and he grinned at her, his canines shining at her. He looked at the mark that he had given to her a few days ago and he kissed it making her shiver. He sucked on that bit of flesh once more, a yelp spilling from her lips. **"You're mine. Just mine. And I'm yours too."**

Juvia smiled as she ran her hand down his chest.

His mouth latched onto one of her rounded molds. The way his tongue played around with her nipple, sucking, nibbling and biting it. He got a range of reactions out of her, reactions that drove him mad. He may have already bust a nut, but he's a dragon slayer. He has enough stamina to last him two more rounds.

He then latched his mouth onto the twin breast and started his journey all over again.

He then left a trail of wet kisses and hickies down her stomach and down her sides. Gajeel was so desperate to get a taste of her from down below, but he knew that that was for another day and he didn't bother. Juvia felt quite relieved that he hadn't bothered himself with that.

"**You better get ready Juvia. This is the part that makes our mating complete."** Juvia bit her lip. There was no going back after this and she didn't want to go back either. This was going to be official in terms of a dragon slayer and his mate. She already knew that this is the person she wanted to spend her life with and she didn't want anything stopping her in the future. She smiled before leaning up and kissing him softly.

"Go ahead Natsu-kun. Take all of Juvia."

He didn't need to be told twice at all. He readied himself at her entrance and gave her a reassuring glance. She bit her bottom lip and nodded her head. Natsu almost held his breath when he rammed into her. She cried out in pain as Natsu then hovered over her, whispering sorry over and over again as he waited there, trying to get her used to the size. Her breath was shaky before she spoke again. "Natsu-kun, move."

Knowing that if he was to ask her 'are you sure' she'll throw a fit and say that she's not weak, so he decided to move. Even though she kept on wincing, she was still going through his it. From flinching, it became a relaxed sigh before it then turned into constant groaning. She ignored the blood that must have been pouring out of her due to that fact that Natsu just rushed through her hymen and soon enough got into the rhythm of things.

Natsu was then grunting as they could both feel themselves becoming one. "Juvia you're so fucking tight!" He had to announce it because he felt happy. Happy that he was Juvia's first and that he was going to be her only as well, and vice versa. He felt as though he didn't even deserve her.

"Natsu-kun!"

The way she said his name drove him over the edge as his thrusts became quicker and were hard hitting. Her nails dug into his back as her legs were then wrapped around his torso. Natsu then struck her making her scream out. "RIGHT THERE!"

Natsu smirked. It was so obvious that he found a sweet spot. He constantly struck her there, his speed seemingly unbeatable as it was like he was moving at lightspeed.

They kept on at it until Natsu could feel another wave come over him. He gritted his teeth and held onto her. **"Juvia!"** This time, he didn't even get to finish his sentence before he planted his seed within her and their sweat mingled within one another. He kissed her lips and waited for a while before he became hard again. Juvia laughed a little.

"Again?"

Natsu nodded his head. **"You have to cum with me."**

The next thing they knew, they were up against the wall, on the bedside table and wherever before they were back on the bed. Natsu had to admit it, Juvia had some amazing endurance levels going on. He had blown a nut at least a good five times and she still had to go a first time. Natsu didn't know how much his limit was, but he could sense that Juvia was about to come to an end too.

"**Ride me Juvia."**

Her already red cheeks turned to a darker shade of red as she was now the one on top. She straddled him and now Natsu could see all of her without getting interrupted. She moved up and down slowly at first, trying to get a feel of the new position before she had enough of the snail pace that she was moving at. She sped things up, her walls closing around his erect member making his hiss. He also enjoyed the way that she was calling his name, adding the -kun at the end. She must have started doing that without realizing, but he loved it. It had shown how much their relationship had changed during the course of the month.

She rolled her hips into his and his hand slithered up and down her thighs and she hissed. There was pool building up as she could feel the warmth circulating. Her eyes widened and Natsu could feel it too. He was almost coming to an end as well.

"NATSU, I'M CUMING!"

"FUCK JUVIA!"

Both of their minds went haywire as they came together, releasing everything that they have. They were both panting heavily, staring at each other through heavy lidded eyes. They gave each other a weak smile and Natsu then removed himself from Juvia as she lay on top of him.

"**That was amazing."**

"It was better than Juvia expected."

"**That's because you always expected it from Gray. I'm way better." **

Juvia couldn't help but laugh tiredly and she turned her head to look at him. The fire in his eyes with the three different colours were staring at her, as though they were trying to look into her soul. She then cupped his face and stroked his cheek. She ran her hand through his hair and his eyes fluttered shut. He enjoyed her light touches and it was like he had fallen into a pool of feathers. She kissed his lips and he responded back, taking his time to kiss the hell out of her. When they pulled away, he sighed and smiled, his eyes still closed.

As weak as Juvia felt, she knew she still had something to do. She pushed Natsu off of the side of the bed, making him yelp. He looked up, a glare taking over his face. **"What the fuck was that for? You do know that after sex, we're supposed to cuddle up and sleep right?!"**

"Yeah well, Juvia doesn't plan on sleeping in this _mess_. It's disgusting. Now, the quicker Natsu-kun tells Juvia where all the sheets are, the quicker Juvia can change it and then go to sleep. Oh and Juvia has to rinse off real quick. Natsu-kun too."

He groaned, knowing he wasn't going to get away with this. He was so tired though! He complied with her, showed her where the sheets were before she stripped the bed of the old one and put on the new one. "Now for the shower!" She grabbed Natsu's hand and pulled him in, making him smirk. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

Meh, I think I fucked up somewhere in the lemon scene...Not like I actually care lol. But yeah, there you guys have it! This chapter was long than chapter 6 by 1,000 words or so, so kudos to moi! Yay lol.

But yeah, now I have one more chapter to put up before you have to wait a week for the last chapter! I think it will take me less than a week anyway...Not sure!

Please rate or hate, flames or floods! (Gonna get SOO much hate because of the lemon lol) But your reviews are cute, so leave me a hoot!

Lolita-chan


	8. Chapter 8

Hey Dark Gothic Lolita here!

PHEW! I ALMOST wasn't able to bring out these chapters right now! So it's like gone midnight and we're waiting for my brother to get back from prom (the equivalent to homecoming I think) and I'm along in the sitting room yeah? Guess what?

THERE'S A SPIDER CRAWLING ON MY FLOOR AND I FREAKED OUT AND JUMPED UP!

Okay, so I could have been able to kill it, but I didn't have any footwear on my feet so I was kinda screwed right? IT WAS ON MY WAY TO THE DOOR! I literally flew through the doorway because I was not staying there all night with it!

So luckily, I took the laptop with me lol. Didn't get the charger though. That was risk I was not even thinking of taking.

But yeah, here is the final chapter of the three that I said I was going to bring out until the last chapter! Or last two chapters...Depending on how much I write. I wasn't meant to write this much on chapter 8 lol. XD

I don't own Fairy Tail or any of their characters! I do own Annie though lol. I apologize dearly for my horrible spelling and grammar mistakes!

ENJOY!

* * *

**The pairing project**

**Chapter eight**

By the time Juvia woke up, she noticed something...different about the room that she was currently sleeping in. There were more things and a lot of them looked like blue stuff...Since when did Natsu even own blue things anyway? She looked over at the clock briefly before closing her eyes to snuggle back into bed with Natsu again. Then her eyes flew open as she sat up with lightning speed, her eyes falling back on the clock again. WHAT?!

She sprang out of the bed, wrapping the sheets around her when she noticed that her companion was no longer in the bed next to her. she had slept in till 5 pm . FIVE PM! Who sleeps for that long?! Well apparently she does when she's just tried to please a dragon slayer in mating season all night long!

"Morning Juvia."

She stopped and blinked at her new mate before raising an eyebrow. Why did he sound so...different? And he was no longer smirking. What the hell?! Just when she thought that an intruder was trying to pose as Natsu, she remembered that that side of him only lasted whenever it was mating season and seeing as that season had now closed up, he was back to normal. Either way, he was still going to be annoying as hell.

"Sleep well? I musta ran you into the ground last night for you to sleep for that long." He grinned at her _and _he managed to sound so innocent about it! She was expecting for him to blush because he did that quite a bit when he wasn't in dragon mate mode, but it never came. Instead, it made _her_ blush.

"Shut up, Natsu-kun didn't run Juvia into the ground. He ran Juvia into the bed," she stated nonchalantly before sitting down at the chair, ignoring his laughter. She knew it didn't make any difference but still, she wanted to have the last say in this conversation, not him. "Why does the place look so different?"

He placed what seemed to be breakfast in front of her and she threw him a look. Just because she woke up now doesn't mean she wants to be stuck eating breakfast, but hey, she's not complaining. It's free food after all, right?

"Well sleeping beauty, if you can't recognise your own stuff, I guess I can tell ya that I went to your apartment as Fairy Hills and moved your stuff in with me. My house is now your house." Juvia face palmed at herself before she registered what Natsu had just said to her. Her eyes sparkled in nothing but pure delight when she heard that. It was official, they were now...together! She jumped up from her seat and landed in his arms, hugging him tightly and he just grinned, holding her close to him.

"Juvia loves Natsu sooo much!" She pecked his cheek before letting him go. She spun around the kitchen as Natsu watched her. It was funny to watch how excited she was about these things. She was just moving in after all.

"_Well she is a girl who goes to Fairy Tail. They're so weird."_

"Juvia heard that."

They both froze and it was like a wave of deja vu when they were both on the train together and Natsu wasn't dizzy.

"I DIDN'T EVEN SAY ANYTHING!"

"THEN HOW DID JUVIA KNOW WHAT NATSU JUST SAID IN HIS HEAD?!"

"OOOOH! BECAUSE WE'RE BOTH MATES, WE CAN HEAR EACH OTHER'S THOUGHTS AND FEEL WHATEVER THE OTHER IS FEELING."

"Natsu-kun can stop shouting now." Juvia shook her ears and smiled at him. He gave her a sheepish smile before gulping down his food in one and washing his plate. "So what are our plans for today?" Juvia was looking up at him as she stuck a sandwich into her mouth.

"Well seeing as you slept through _your_ day, you might as well start designing the house to your taste right? Unless you want to move..." Natsu was secretly wishing that Juvia liked where the house because he was sure as hell not moving, love or not. Sometimes sentimental stuff had a big place in one's heart. But that doesn't mean that he will be saying that to Juvia's face any time soon.

"It's okay, Juvia is okay with staying here, and she's not just saying that because she could hear Natsu's thoughts. Juvia actually likes it here. Besides she's tidied up here more times than Natsu ever had and that was only twice. We're not moving after such a big accomplishment." She smirked at Natsu when he realised that she had heard his thoughts. He had to keep a mental note to stop thinking things anyhow.

"That's good, I like this home too much." Juvia smiled at him before moving over to the sink to wash her stuff up in the sink.

"Then what is Natsu-kun going to do?"

"That is for Natsu-kun to know and for Juvia-chan to find out later." He laughed at her face before speaking again. "And don't stalk me, I will know when you're nearby and you can't hide from me. I've got my thoughts on lock down too."

She huffed and crossed her arms as Natsu ruffled her hair. "I'll be back later okay?" She waved him off, not even watching him. How dare he put her stalking skills to the test?! She was the best spy the world had ever seen! Well that's what she wanted to call it anyway. She knew it was stalking, but observing someone from afar is what she liked to call it. Even the most alert person would never know that she was following them. That was until she came across the dreaded people that called themselves dragon slayers. Their heightened senses annoyed her to no end.

She went through to their room to actually get dressed and started shifting boxes. Just how heavy was she sleeping for him to be moving boxes around the place without her even waking up or turning in her sleep? He had actually moved EVERYTHING but her bed and things that can't be moved. It must have taken him ages. Then Juvia remembered who she was thinking about. This was Natsu, of course it didn't.

After about an hour of moving things around the place, she heard a knock at the front door. She raised an eyebrow before making her way to the door and opening it. There she found Natsu's team staring at her and she stared at them back, clearly surprised. "Um, hey you guys. Is there something Juvia can do for you all?" She moved out of their way before she allowed them in and closed the door behind her.

They looked around the place, surprised that the whole house was even tidy. It was obviously Juvia's doing. No way was Natsu ever going to be this clean in his life. That or Juvia had somehow talked him into cleaning the place before she arrived.

"We don't want much, we were just in the neighbourhood and we thought we could come and see our good friends." Juvia, Lucy and Gray sweat dropped at Erza's mini monologue and face palmed. Even the other two couldn't deem that as a good enough lie as to why they were really here.

"It's okay Erza-san, you don't have to lie to Juvia. No one is 'just in the neighbourhood' when the neighbourhood is a _forest_. Just tell Juvia why you're all here! Juvia would offer you something to eat, but Juvia thinks that Natsu ate everything while Juvia was sleeping in late." They all sat down on a couch that they didn't even know Natsu had seeing as his house looked like nothing but piles of scrap yard junk.

"That's fine. Why we're really here is because we have a few questions for you."

"If you guys want to know how the sex was, Juvia isn't going to tell. Juvia isn't like that." She blushed as her thoughts went back to what happened between her and Natsu the night before. Gray jumped up from where he was sitting, a look of disgust taking over his face as the other three girls in the room were staring at him like he had lost the plot even though Erza and Lucy had a blush on their faces as well.

"I DON'T WANNA KNOW WHAT THAT STUPID CANDLE DOES IN HIS FUCKING ROOM! LET'S KEEP IT PG OKAY?!"

Erza smirked at him, knowing fully well that he was jealous that Natsu got laid before he did. With a girl who used to love him no less. "Juvia, as much as I would like to get every bit of information out of you about what happened last night, that's not the reason as to why we're here. We want to know something really important."

Juvia was now getting sick of them beating about the bush and Lucy could see the frustrating look that was settling in her eyes. Lucy herself was also annoyed because she really needed to know. She decided to take over the reins and say what Erza wanted to say. "We just want to know if you really do love Natsu or if you're just using him to make Gray jealous! Or maybe because he likes you and you're his mate, are you taking pity on him because you know it'll make him crazy if you don't accept him?!"

Juvia sat there, stunned into silence, the whole jokey mood had disappeared, along with Juvia's smile. What was Lucy insinuating? Was _she _jealous that she had ended up as Natsu's mate and not her herself? No it can't be. Lucy would never say something this harsh or rude, angry, jealous or not! What was this really about?

Erza cleared her throat giving the blond a harsh glare. "I guess that what Lucy is trying to say is that we don't Natsu to get hurt by his mate because you're trying to catch Gray's attention."

They didn't see Juvia's fist clench by her side. They could see her eyes close after she had just heard their words. She didn't want to hear them anymore. Were they really questioning her love for Natsu? She was the one who was jealous when Annie wanted to go out with Natsu! She was the only one who had dared to give Natsu a birthday party after so many years of not having one that she even bet that they all _forgot _his birthday! If anything, she was the one who was getting hurt. Their words were cutting right through her and it hurt like a bitch.

"How can you say that to Juvia? Juvia loves Natsu-kun so much and now she has her own nakama trying to tell her otherwise? Sure, Juvia loved Gray at the beginning of the project, but that was quick to change when Juvia hung out more and more with Natsu-kun! Juvia wouldn't have cared if she was Natsu-kun's mate if she didn't love him! We've all seen the way Juvia turned down Lyon-san! Juvia was the only one who set up the perfect birthday party for Natsu-kun after all this time and Juvia hasn't even been in the guild for that long! Now you're here, asking if Juvia's feelings are real!"

"Yes, but Juvia it's as you said. They were quick to change. Too quick to change. Are you sure your feelings are genuine?"

She gave out a bitter laugh before sank lower in her seat, the other three staring at each other with a guilty look on their faces. Happy then came flying through the door, obviously excited that Juvia was now living to them until he saw the tears rolling down Juvia's face and knew that this was real. Usually, Juvia's tears were fake and more for attention seeking, but this time it actually looked genuine, like she didn't want anyone to see her crying.

The guilty looks on Erza, Lucy's and Gray's face was enough for him to know that it was their fault that his new friend was crying silently on the sofa without any of them trying to comfort her. He walked over to her and tapped her arm. When she looked through her tears and saw the blue cat, she grabbed him in a hug as she cried into his fur.

"Please...just leave. Leave Juvia alone." She was crying so much that she almost missed the fact that they had left and shut the door behind them. She tried to stop her tears, but they just kept on falling. She stroked Happy's head, trying to comfort herself. "Juvia is sorry Happy. What they s-said to Juvia is j-just upsetting her." She wiped her tears, trying to make sure that it won't rain.

"What did they say?"

She tried to tell him as much as she could without sobbing so much. Happy then patted her head, much like Juvia and Lisanna would do to him in order to comfort her. She giggled a little bit, her eyes still red from her tears. "It'll be okay. Don't think about it too much. Can we go fishing? That always takes my mind off of things."

She laughed, knowing that it won't really help for her and that he only suggested it for his sake, but she agreed anyway. She had never gone fishing before and it can't be hard for a water mage like her. She wiped her tears and tried to steady her breathing. "Sure. Let Juvia get her purse so that we can go shopping afterwards."

~x~

Natsu was walking alongside a very beautiful woman. They were walking together, laughing and talking and just plain having fun. He put his arms around her shoulder and her big blue eyes were staring up at him warmly.

"So you're actually going to do this Natsu? You're going to buy Juvia a ring?"

"Hell yeah I am! Juvia has always wanted to get married before sex and seeing as I kinda broke that because of my own needs, I need to make it up to her! Plus, she's my mate and she's a girl that I love. I just need to find the perfect ring that will scream at her..."

He retracted his arm from her shoulder as they found a ring shop. He grinned like he had just gotten the keys to a brand new chocolate shop before he bounced into the place. The store owner heard the bell above the door ring and when he looked up, ready to introduce the customer with a smile on his face, the smile froze before turning sour. He was no stranger in these parts, oh no. In fact, his shop had been passed down for 4 generations now, and his daughter was planning on taking over the shop when he retired too. He knew of Natsu's destructive ways.

"Oh well, if it isn't Natsu. You better not be here to be ruining my shop! No fire allowed!"

Natsu scowled at him before Lisanna jumped in the middle of them both."Okaaay! Natsu here wants to buy a ring for his mate."

"Mate? Don't you mean girlfriend?"

"Nope," they both said simultaneously. The man flinched back before shrugging. Whatever, maybe it was some fetish that they both had and that Lisanna just knew about it.

"Okay, so what type of ring are you looking for?"

Natsu put on a concentrating face and his hand rubbed at his chin. Lisanna wanted to laugh and tell him not to hurt himself with such thinking, but she decided to keep her mouth shut. She wasn't about to put Natsu off. They can have a little spatz later on.

"Well she's a water mage-"

"Say no more, I think I have the perfect collection for you to look at." Natsu stared at the man in awe as he went to the other glass cabinet that was behind him and pulled out a rather large, blue box. Natsu and Lisanna 'oohed' and 'ahhed' when they saw how grand it looked. The man slowly opened it as though to create an immense amount of tension and when he finally opened it, Lisanna gasped.

"They're so beautiful! Juvia will love it!"

Natsu didn't even reply as he just kept on glancing at the different rings. He had to find one that literally screamed Juvia's name in the whole thing. He had to pick an amazing ring that she will cry over. He scowled in annoyance when he couldn't see one and the man noticed. "No need to worry, we have one more that just got sent to us this morning and we haven't even had to time to put it on display though. Would you like to see it?"

Natsu grunted. Seeing one more ring wouldn't hurt. "Might as well then."

"I will warn you now, you have to pay quite a bit for it."

"Money is money, let's see this thing, I got a girl to impress!"

Lisanna couldn't help but coo at Natsu's words as she watched him eagerly wait for the main to bring out a box from round the back. He was so concentrated on this task! It really was an adorable thing to watch. Now if only she had the courage to tell Bickslow how she felt or if he confessed his feelings to her, she would be waiting on him to do this for her.

"Here it is."

The man opened up the case and because Natsu was in her way, she couldn't see why Natsu's expression had changed so drastically. She then looked over his shoulder and her eyes widened. "Oh. My. Kami...That is so beautiful."

It was a simple silver ring with diamonds decorating it all over before it came to the main part of the ring. It looked like it had been decorated to be a flower of diamonds with a huge light blue diamond in the middle of it. "The gem is called aquamarine. It holds courage and gets rid of all anxiety and fear. It also helps to relax you on a long journey and it's said to protect sailors from seasickness. Is this what you would like?"

"No! It's what I would LOVE! How much are we talking about here?"

"It's going to cost you a lot...1,500,500 jewels if you please."

Lisanna gasped and her eyes widened in shock as Natsu gasped and his eyes widened in glee.

"But that's so expensive."

"It's perfect and cheaper than I though!"

They had said it at the same time, but because Natsu was so excited, he didn't even hear Lisanna's comment. Lisanna's jaw dropped as he saw her childhood best friend pull out the money in hard cash and the jeweler had never looked so pleased. "Thank you! I hope everything goes well for you!"

He rang it up on the till and Lisanna shook her head, trying to overcome the shock. "Where did you get that money from?" Natsu just smirked at her.

"Well there was this old lady who was looking pretty open with her bag-"

"NATSU! Stop joking about and just tell me!"

"Hahahahaha, okay. That Annie girl's dad paid me a BIG sum because he thought I was dating his daughter. I was gonna return the money because we obviously weren't dating, but then I thought of the amount of groceries I could do with the money. If you think a lot of the money was just blown on the ring now, you're wrong. He gave me a hella lot."

Seriously? He's not even thinking about having a wedding soon enough then, but all he knows is that Juvia will have enough money from _him _do enough shopping for food! Lisanna doesn't really think that Natsu being married will even change him much. Juvia was actually pretty lenient with what Natsu did as well. The guy could never truly be whipped.

"Here you go Natsu! Congratulate the lucky girl for me and don't forget to come back here for your wedding rings!"

"Don't worry old man, I kinda already saw the rings I want." He didn't want Lisanna to know what rings he was getting so he discreetly pointed and the man understood it straight away.

"Nice choice. I'll keep them on reserve."

"Wait, what?! You chose your wedding rings already?! I wanna see, I wanna see!" Natsu laughed at his friend as he waved to the shopkeeper before grabbing Lisanna's arm and walking her out of the shop.

"Nope! It's a surprise!"

Lisanna huffed and when she was going to argue with him and pull the best friend card on him, Natsu froze. His hand fell from Lisanna's arm as she gave him a worried expression. He seemed to be in a little bit of pain as his face wore a frown. What the hell was happening all of a sudden?

"We have to go, Juvia is crying."

Lisanna looked up. "But it's not raining."

"No, it doesn't need to rain for the reason why she's crying. It only rains when she feels lonely. Now she's just been hurt and is really upset."

He started running and Lisanna started running too, but was too slow. It made her use her tigress animal soul to be able to catch up to him. She didn't even bother telling him to slow down because she knew very well that he wouldn't let up a little bit. He would end up saying something like 'just catch up in your own time.'

She dashed in behind him, weaving in and out of people, making sure to apologize to anyone that they bumped into, but luckily they were all used to it because Fairy Tail was their home guild. They knew they all got up to crazy things so something like this doesn't even bother them anymore.

They finally got to house to find that Juvia wasn't even there. Natsu cursed under his breath as he had been so worried for her that he neglected to use any of his senses to realise that Juvia wasn't even there. Lisanna collapsed onto the sofa as she was panting and promptly turned back to her regular self so that she wouldn't be wasting her magic.

"I ran...all this way...for...nothing?!" She was still panting and she made a mental note to kick her training up her backside. She didn't want to be so unfit!

Natsu's face brightened up when he could smell Juvia and her pulled the door open to meet her shocked expression. There she was, standing with Happy on the doorstep as they both had shopping in their arms. Okay, well Happy had fish in his hands. He had never been more happy as to go fishing with a water mage! It made life better and he actually came home with fish this time around!

"Juvia, are you okay? I thought you were crying, what happened?"

He made some room for her to come into the house and she went to the kitchen to go and set the things down before she sighed and gave him a small smile. "Nothing, Juvia is just fine."

Natsu raised an eyebrow at her, disappointed that she will lie to him. "Yeah, and I'm the spirit King. You can't get away with lying to me, just tell me." Lisanna then invited Happy over to hers to help him cook the fish in order to leave the two of them alone. As soon as they were gone, Juvia let the tears roll down her face.

"Lucy-san, Gray-san and Erza-san came over today questioning Juvia on whether she really loves Natsu-kun for real or if it's just a way to make Gray-san jealous! Then they asked if it was only because we're mates and Juvia is staying because she pities you for having a mate that doesn't love you! It just made Juvia upset, nothing to worry about."

She found herself in a hug as she she then breathed in deeply, smelling the fire and woodsmoke scent that he gave off, along with other manly scents. She enjoyed it and rubbed her nose into his chest making him laugh a little bit. "Don't listen to what they say, I know that you love me and that's all I need to know and you need to know. Also, because I love you so much..."

He pulled out the box and the ring and Juvia's eyes twinkled, the tears in her eyes turning from one of sadness to one of sheer joy. "No...way..."

"WAY! So whaddya say? Will you marry me Juvia?"

She stood there staring at him, her mouth opening and closing like a fish making Natsu laugh. Happy would have been so sure as to say that out loud.

"Natsu-kun...OF COURSE YOU BAKA, JUVIA LOVES YOU SO SHE'LL MARRY YOU AND HAVE 30 KIDS!"

Natsu laughed as he brought her close to him, wrapping an arm around her waist and twirled her around, happy that she accepted. He then grabbed her left hand stared at it. He looked back up at her, the excitement written all over her face. She giggled when he kissed her hand and he gently slipped the ring onto her fourth finger. and stared at it from different angles. "It's perfect. I pick 'em real well!"

Juvia leaned up and kissed him so gently that Natsu was so sure she had the lips of an angel. He smiled and held her hand, entwining his fingers as he did so. "I think this calls for some dinner before we tell the guild tomorrow!" He then dragged her over to the shopping bags as he helped her unpack and she just shook her head at his childish antics. She stared at him as he was unloading them before he then looked up at her to see her just standing there, staring at him.

"You okay?"

She smiled and nodded. "Juvia is fine, she's just thinking about how good Natsu-kun is to her." She blushed and he kissed her forehead before his attention was drawn to the amount of food that she had bought for the three of them.

"Buffet tonight!"

Juvia giggled before giving him a deadpanned expression.

"No."

"But-"

"NO! You can't have a week's worth of food in one night Natsu-kun!" He pouted.

"Fine then, you put the food away yourself then."

"Then Natsu-kun doesn't eat tonight."

They stared at each other, one with amusement in her cerulean orbs, another with upset brown eyes. "You're lucky you're on my good list Juvia."

She chuckled as she put things away in the fridge. "Yeah, because Juvia got an engagement ring just because she was on a 'good list.' Juvia already knows that Natsu-kun loves Juvia so much. Now stop sulking!"

* * *

Ha! That was the weirdest ending I've ever had to make! I'm pretty impressed with it lol. YOU SHOULD BE TOO! IT'S ALMOST 1 AM, SCHOOL IN THE MORNING (as a music teacher for work experience if I add, and year 9 (8th graders) are the worst to deal with) AND I HAVEN'T GOTTEN ANY SLEEP YET! WHAT THE FUCK IS MY LIFE?!

But seriously guys, how was that? I know that many people may just save time and review on chapter 8, or some may review every chapter I've brought out. Whatever floats your boat I guess. But yeah, you saw this chapter, I guess it's just building up further on their relationship as a real couple. I know that it's moving very fast, but Natsu was in mate mode. That was the whole point!

But please don't forget to rate or hate, flames or floods! Lolita loves you guys!

Lolita-chan


	9. Chapter 9

Hey Dark Gothic Lolita here!

So guys, I know it has been an awfully long time since I updated, but I've still got another days worth of school in my life which is totally not fair...Like, loads of people closed 4, 2 weeks ago, yet my school is one of the many unfortunate ones that are closing late. Do you know how hard it is to watch my whole family sleep in late while I wake up at 6:30 am to go to SCHOOL? The torture is real guys!

So now I've finally had the chance to update the story you babies of mine! I hope you all enjoy this chapter! It's full of fluff here and there and it's cheesy and mushy...lol.

Time to thank or respond to my guest reviewers!

**Angelina: **I know, I was out of the game for AGES and then I hit back with THREE chapters before hiding again which I feel bad for! I'm sowie! I hope you can forgive me! Gray's jealousy is definitely shining through and you'll see a bit more of it in this chapter actually! Glad you enjoyed all 3 chapters!

**Guest 1: **Everyone was worried about me not updating I guess, but I'm really happy that you enjoyed all three chapters! Hope you'll enjoy this one no matter how short it may seem!

**Lady Enigma: ***Hugs back* Hahahahaa, yes the triple update! Never ever done that in all my 3 years as a writer hahaha! It felt good to do though! Glad you liked it!

**Dark: **The wedding is going to be EPIC! Hahahaha, going to be so wild! Glad you enjoyed the updates!

**Guest 2: **I'm glad you think that my story is really good, thank you!

**MacDaddyFreaash: **Of course I have to reply to my reviewers! You guys are like my fanfiction LIFE! I can't NOT reply, I'll look like a bitch! (Something that I'm not lol) As for your question to whether I'm going to be starting new stories, I think that the answer is going to be no. I've put a lot of thought into it, but I'm not going to be starting any new materials, unless it's a one shot. Why you may ask? Simple. I've neglected more stories than I can count on one hand and I think it's really rude of me to be writing and finishing mew stories while others wait for my old stuff. I want to finish those first or sort out any rewrites before continuing, that way I'm up to date! Sorry to disappoint!

I would have cried even more if it was a gecko! Why do these things happen? :'(

**Guest 3: **I totally forgot to change the rating lol. Thanks for the reminder!

**Guest 4: **Yeah I have read the story and it's like totally amazing I know lol. Surely you must have seen me review on there already, I'm like one of the first always to review! I WANT MORE!

But yeah, you guys should totally read **Girlfriend Swap **by **Thunder explosion **(I'm not sure if there's a space) because it's some AMAZING Navia right there! Only, there hasn't been any updates in a while. READ IT IF YOU HAVEN'T I'M TELLING YOU NOW!

But yeah, I don't own Fairy Tail or the characters. I apologize for any useless grammar and spelling mistakes!

ENJOY!

* * *

**The pairing project**

**Chapter nine**

Natsu woke up and blinked at the ceiling. He didn't feel Juvia next to him and when he looked up, he saw her sitting at her dresser that he had moved into the house. He could see her looking at herself in the mirror but because she was concentrating on herself, she didn't see him looking at her. She was smiling while looking at her ring on her fourth finger. It was gorgeous. She had woken up so early because she was so happy.

Natsu grinned before he quickly pounced on her, making her scream as she fell off the chair and landed on top of him as his back slammed the floor. She punched him making him laugh at her. "What was that for Natsu-kun? If that's Natsu-kun's way of saying good morning, then Juvia wants that to stop right now!"

He released her, thinking that she will get up but she didn't. He smirked. "Well, why aren't you getting off of me then?" She blushed and buried her head in his neck.

"Because Natsu-kun is warm."

They both got up after holding each other for about five minutes. She continued to stare at her ring, a dreamy look on his face. Natsu went to the bathroom to get and freshen up by the time he came out, Juvia looked like she was ready to bounce off the walls. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Hey Juvia? What ya doooin'?" She just grinned at him and pointed at her ring.

"Juvia is just soooo happy! Is there a reason why Natsu chose this ring in particular for Juvia?" She got her hat and put her butterfly clip on it and Natsu hugged her from behind. He rested his chin on her shoulder and kissed her cheek.

"The man told me the meaning of aquamarine. I can't remember it exactly, but I know he said it's supposed to calm people on long journeys and we all know how I get when I even _go _on a journey, but with you there, I no longer feel sick. It also stops sailors from feeling seasick and you're a water mage! Perfect or what?"

She ruffled his hair before slipping out of his hold and going towards the kitchen. Natsu stood there with a blank expression on his face before rushing in after her. "Wait! You didn't say that I did a good job picking the ring out!" She grabbed some food from the fridge in order to start cooking something up and she laughed, still not saying anything. Natsu growled in mock anger and tried to jump her, only for him to fly right through her. He yelped and smashed into the ground and he looked up at her.

"Oh so you want a fight huh?"

"Juvia isn't saying anything about the ring until we do. Natsu-kun has never challenged Juvia to a fight and Juvia is annoyed. Does Natsu-kun think that his wife to be is _weak_?" Her eyes were challenging him into saying what he thought. If he said yes, then she was going to wipe the floor with him and if he said no, she would constantly ask why he has never fought against her before. He gave her a weary look.

"What are the stakes?"

"Juvia doesn't want to wager anything, she just wants to show Natsu-kun that she's strong." Her eyes shone as blue as her ring and Natsu had to gulp. She was beautiful and deadly. It was the worst combination he could think of and she damn well knew that. She gave him an innocent smile. "Come on Natsu-kun. Before we go to the guild, pleeeeease?"

She clutched his arm and batted her eyelashes at him and he groaned. "FINE!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him out to the back of the forest.

"Okay, first to get the other one pinned is the winner! Go!"

Before Natsu could even take in another breath, Juvia had already wiped him out with a water slicer. He almost choked on the amount of water that spilled into his mouth and the fact that he had just been knocked back into a tree. His eyes widened as he stared up at Juvia who was smirking at him. He knew that he couldn't take Juvia very lightly at all. She would be pissed if he did and he might just lose his life.

"You asked for it!"

As he had even finished that sentence, another water slicer almost smacked into him as he jumped out of the way. Juvia was quick and her attacks stung. It really didn't help that they were polar opposites when it came to magic. He would have never believed the whole thing on 'opposites attract' if Juvia wasn't his mate. It was like she was aiming to kill.

Natsu needed a plan. So far, Juvia had been able to use her attacks to push him further away from her and if he used his magic to attack right now, she could extinguish any fire attacks that he would use against her at this distance. He had also heard that Juvia was a classic master at hand to hand combat and that she was not to be messed with when it came to strength.

Juvia smirked inwardly. Natsu didn't know that his thoughts were going haywire in her own head, meaning she could hear what he was thinking. It was quite hilarious, hearing him go through all these processes, only to have them not work out for him. She liked Natsu feeling like this because of her. She was a very dominant female once she was with someone comfortable and there was no way Natsu was going to have her be submissive.

Suddenly, she was frowning. Natsu wasn't thinking of anything anymore, meaning that she wasn't going to hear his thoughts and freak him out by knowing exactly what he was going to do. No matter, in a real fight, that wouldn't be able to happen anyway. Natsu was a very impulsive fighter, so she knew that he was going to be winging everything he did.

Then she gasped. His eyes were red as he smirked at her, his canines coming through. He didn't...did he?! That's not even fair!

"**You've been very lucky so far Juvia-chan. How about in my dragon mode?"**

Her heart sped up in excitement. Natsu was finally taking her seriously! She had a few things against this side of Natsu anyway. All his perverted words, and he never got flustered! "Juvia doesn't mind what mode Natsu-kun is to go in, along as she gets a good fight out of this."

"**Fire Dragon's brilliant flame!"**

Juvia froze as she watched with her eyes wide. The fire was reflecting in her azure orbs as she stood frozen. Natsu smirked, obviously noticing how shocked his fiance was at how _amazing _his attack was. Maybe after this she'll forgive him for burning her and give him a kiss and they can go to the guild to announce the news. Until she nullified his attack last minute which made him frown.

"Water nebula!"

A double helix of water came rushing forward, not only making his flames disappear, but they were now heading towards him. In this instance he well and truly hated water. It was probably the only thing next to wind that could truly make him weak. Even then, wind had only a small effect. It was just water that could just get rid of every bit of fire.

Juvia didn't waste any time in using her next attack. She ran forward to him when he had spaced out and by the time he had come back around, she was already in front of him, smirking. He gritted his teeth as he wondered what her next attack was.

"Triple water attack: Water punch, water kick, water force!" Natsu had gone flying back, but not without launching his own attack before hitting a nearby tree.

"**Fire Dragon's claw!"**

As his back slammed the tree he heard Juvia curse as she let out a little yelp. She hadn't seen it coming and when she tried to duck out of the way, the fire came quicker than she expected, slamming her into the ground and making her roll in the dirt. She stared at the sky, a bit annoyed that she hadn't even seen that coming when it was so obvious!

"**Fire Dragon's flame elbow!" **

Juvia had already stood up to dust her off when she had heard his next attack. She saw that he was using fire at his elbow to propel himself forward and she didn't even realise what she was doing. She waited for him to get closer to her and when he did, she jumped up high, spinning twice in the air before sticking out her right leg and kicking him in the face. His eyes widened as her foot left a shoe print in his cheek. He went flying back and Juvia used the momentum from the kick to springboard a back flip off of his face.

Natsu skidded on his foot, making sure that he didn't fall. Before Juvia even landed, she had already used another attack on him. "Wings of love!" It was like getting a shower and before long, Natsu was drenched in water. He used his body heat to dry himself off and he grinned at Juvia cheekily. She was actually really strong and now he understood why Gray had said that he had had difficulty in defeating Juvia the first time round. She wasn't at all like when she was at the GMG. This was serious. It was like she had been joking around when she had to fight at the GMG and now she was actually showing what she could really do.

He looked at her and noticed that her eyes were literally glowing as she looked at him, analysing every move of his. It was like she was one step ahead of him and he had never come across this, only when he had met Mira and Erza. Only, he knew how they fought and their weaknesses. Juvia had never fought against him and she was using water, his biggest foe. He was afraid to say that he might actually lose this fight.

Then Juvia started walking towards him. He moved back before smirking. It was time to be brash.

"**Fire Dragon's sword horn!"**

Juvia hadn't been expecting that at all! All she wanted to say was that they had been out here for ages now and that it was probably time to go and drop the bomb to the guild, but here he was, still attacking her! She didn't even know what this one was like!

She noticed that his whole body was on fire and that he was heading right towards her...using his...head?!

"Sierra!"

They were both now hurtling towards each other at full power, one covered in fire and covered in water. This wasn't going to be so good at all.

They suddenly collided and it sent shockwaves across all of Magnolia, and much more. Everyone started looking out of their windows as their houses rattled and their windows were so close to smashing. Fairy Tail looked up in shock, wondering what powerful forces were out there battling. Would they have to fight them to fend them off? It would be hard with that sort of power.

People in Sabertooth looked up and out of their windows as Rogue and Sting smirked at one another. They knew what it meant, and besides, they would feel Natsu's heat practically scorching their skin! Fighting against Natsu was something no person should ever really go through because it was just a set up for failure on your behalf.

Fighting against your mate was a death wish.

Juvia was coughing as she groaned and turned onto her side. She saw Natsu a little way away from her as he had turned his head to look at her. He grinned at her, his normal grin as he had probably gotten out of dragon mode. Juvia grinned back at him, her grin so angelic despite the amount of bruises that had covered her face. She still looked so beautiful to him.

"Ju-Juvia. You're fucking strong."

"S-see? Juvia told Natsu-kun not to underestimate her."

They had finally and slowly made their way over to each other before grabbing each other's hands to help each other up. They grinned and Natsu's arm held her securely around her waist as she held him by his shoulders. They could both feel their sweat mingling with one another's as they limped their way back to the house.

"Well I think we should clean up before we head to the guild, don't you?"

Line Break

Everyone had rushed to them, looking at the injuries that they had conjured. They were looking at them all over, Wendy pushing her way to the front of the crowd to see what she could heal. Makarov had a concerned look in his eyes as well.

"My poor brats, who did this to you? Was it from the shockwave that we felt earlier? We didn't know the two of you would be so near it!"

"Of course we were near the shock wave Master. It's because we were the cause of the shockwave! Juvia has never fought against Natsu-kun before and Juvia thought it was insulting that he had never asked her before. So of course, Juvia did the natural thing and requested that he fight against her, and here we both are, injured!"

The whole guild looked at them before blinking. Natsu had pulled Juvia into his lap when they had gotten to the guild and they both smiled at the whole guild as their anger started to boil up. That was caused by THEM?!

Natsu could see the anger in their eyes and quickly thought of something. "I erm, proposed to Juvia last night," he said in a small voice. He hoped that would get them out of their upcoming anger, and it really did.

They all looked at Juvia's hand, surprised to see that a diamond ring with a blue jewel was there, on her finger. It looked so perfect that they had a hard time believing that Natsu had actually spent the time to pick out a ring as beautiful as that. Lisanna smirked behind them all as the girls started crying and grabbed for Juvia to have girl time with her.

All the men started slapping Natsu's back, patting his head and giving him playful punches, telling him that he has finally become a man. Natsu just laughed with all, making yet ANOTHER reason to have yet another party even though there had only been one two nights ago, celebrating Natsu's birthday. Now it was time to celebrate his engagement.

"Wow Natsu, you really don't waste time do you? You've literally gotten a girl jealous, dated her, had sex with her and now you've proposed to her, all in the space of a MONTH?! You need to slow down man!"

They all laughed at Macao's words and Natsu just sat there grinning. "Why slow it down when clearly we both have the same feelings towards each other? Besides, dragon slayers have to make moves quickly. Shows how good we are at getting a girl, no matter how dense they seem to be."

Natsu winked at the older man, obviously showing off his skills in wooing a girl in just the space of a month. Everyone laughed at Macao's now red face. It was also a wake up call for many. If NATSU above all irrational and brash guys, then what was holding other men back from telling a girl their feelings towards them?! It was extremely embarrassing to know that Natsu was getting married before them all, save for Alzack, when Natsu and Juvia had been frozen for seven years!

Gray had been silent the whole time. He was watching his rival as he spoke so highly of Juvia. It didn't at all sound like the same Juvia that he had come to know. If anything, she sounded...better...

He knew he wouldn't have wanted her to change for him and that she should be herself, but it was like they had a normal relationship and not one of a damn fangirl and a popstar. She sounded like she was perfect for him...

But she was in love with another and it only took Natsu a month for him to sidetrack the water mage's thoughts and instead of thinking of her precious 'Gray-sama' she now thought of her beloved 'Natsu-kun.' There was a big difference in the sort of relationship that they had and as much as Gray wanted to say that he would have never seen it coming, they actually looked like they'll be a crazy and amazing couple.

Gray couldn't help but smile and shake his head, delightful and happy for the new and upcoming couple. At least this time, they'll all be here for a wedding that is happening. They had missed Bisca's and Alzack's, but now it was soon going to be Natsu's and Juvia's.

All of the girls sat there, cooing and admiring Juvia's ring. It was just so beautiful! They couldn't believe that their Natsu actually had a sense of style and knew what to get a girl! Is this what getting a mate does to even the most dense of guys? It was amazing and so adorable too.

Lucy and Erza looked at one another guiltily before they stepped forward towards the girl. Juvia looked up and the smile on her face slowly disappeared as she gave them both a worried look. What were they going to do to her _now_?! She was actually scared of them and not because they were both intimidating, but because of what they had said. She was scared that they might end up ruining what she and Natsu have and that wasn't something she wanted at all.

"Juvia, we wanted to say congratulations and that we're sorry. Those things that we said, the questions that we asked you was extremely wrong of us. Do you forgive us?"

Juvia looked at them and shrugged with a smile. "Oh course Juvia forgives you both! Who else is going to be Juvia's bridesmaids? Though Juvia is pretty sure that Lisanna-chan wants head bridesmaid." Lisanna squealed at that and jumped up and down before the rest of them squealed too. Mira had then set up a party in record timing and Juvia soon found herself in Natsu's arms once more. They both grinned at each other.

"I still can't believe you're my mate, or that I even have one. I never really actually thought about having my mate y'know? Then you were just always crazy about Gray that I didn't actually ever think that _you _would ever be my mate." Juvia hummed as she couldn't keep her eyes off of him. She smiled.

"Well Juvia can say the same thing too! Still, Juvia is happy that Mira-san had the idea of the pairing project. Juvia is happy that she called out with Natsu's name in the hat. Juvia is happy that Natsu-kun had tried to be friends with her even though she was a bitch to Natsu-kun. Juvia doesn't want Natsu-kun to ever doubt Juvia's love for him okay? No matter what anyone may say, Juvia really and genuinely loves Natsu-kun."

She leaned up and pecked his lips and Natsu held her tighter. He may not know anything about love, but he knows that as soon as Juvia became his partner for the project, he knew what love really meant. Not love for a friend or love for a sibling, but a love of a spouse. Now Juvia was soon going to be his wife, there was no way he would ever let her go.

Never.

* * *

So how was that? I somewhat think I failed at writing that chapter, I don't know. Oh well, you can tell me what you think about that! Only one more chapter left before this story has come to an unfortunate end! It was a good run to be honest, I've enjoyed it so far, right?

Guys, there's something that I constantly say like near the end of every story. Please, please, PLEASE, get an ACTUAL ACCOUNT ON HERE! There are some people who review on my oneshots or old stories who are guests and I CAN'T REPLY TO THEM! It makes me so mad! So please, if you end up commenting as a guest on the final chapter, just know that I will NEVER reply to you because I CAN'T. Please, it's not hard making an account, I can PM you and everyone is happy! It's free of charge if you didn't know that!

So if you haven't already, please endeavor to do so and make mine and many other writers lives easier. Trust me, I speak on behalf of every writer who has guest reviewers!

So please don't forget to rate or hate, flames or floods! I love you guys to pieces, you're all too much for me to handle!

Lolita-chan


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